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THE FRONTIERS OF
LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
IN EUROPE
BY
LEON DOMINIAN
PUBLISHED FOR
THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
OF NEW YORK
BY
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1917
Copyright, 1917,
BY
THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
THE QUINN A BODEN CO. PRESS
RAHWAY, N. J.
To my Alma Mater
Robert College of Constantinople
PREFACE
This book is submitted as a study ia applied geography. Its
preparation grew out of a desire to trace the connection existing
between linguistic areas in Europe and tbe subdivision of the
continent into nations. The endeavor has been made to show
that language exerts a strong formative influence on nationality
because words express thoughts and ideals. But underlying the
currents of national feeling, or of speech, is found the persistent
action of the land, or geography, which like the recurrent motif
of an operatic composition prevails from beginning to end of
the orchestration and endows it with unity of theme. Upon
these foundations, linguistic frontiers deserve recognition as the
symbol of the divide between distinct sets of economic and social
conditions.
The attention bestowed on the Turkish area has been deter-
mined by the bearing of the Turkish situation on European inter-
national affairs and in the earnest belief that the application of
geographical knowledge could provide an acceptable settlement of
the Eastern Question. Never has it been realized better than at
the present time that an ill-adjusted boundary is a hatching-oven
for war. A scientific boundary, on the other hand, prepares the
way for permanent goodwill between peoples.
My effort has been directed to confine the work to a presen-
tation of facts, as I have felt that the solution of the boundary
problems involved could not be reached satisfactorily by individual
opinion. Should these pages afford a working basis, or prove
suggestive, in the settlement of European boundary conflicts, I
shall feel compensated for the time and labor bestowed on the
collection of the material herein contained.
My thanks are due to the American Geographical Society for
the liberal spirit displayed in promoting my efforts and particu-
larly for the colored maps which illustrate the text. I am under
viii PREFACE
special obligations to Councilor Madison Grant of the Society for
new views and a better insight into the significance of race in
European history. To Dr. Isaiah Bowman, Director of the Society,
the extent of my debt would be diflScult to estimate, as his interest
in my work has been unfailing in spite of the pressure of his
many duties. I owe him many alterations and suggestions which
have greatly improved the text. Neither can I allow the volume
to go to press without thanking the American Oriental Society
and the Geographical Society of Philadelphia for the reproduc-
tion of portions of my articles printed in their publications.
Acknowledgment of important criticism on two articles forming
the nucleus of the present volume and published in Vol. 47 of the
Bulletin of The American Geographical Society is also due to
Professors Palmer, Le Compte and Seymour of Tale as well as
to Professors Gottheil and Jordan of Columbia. Many friends,
whose work has helped mine, I have never seen. To them also
I extend thanks.
Leon Dominian.
The American Geographical Society,
New York.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOR ILLUSTRATIONS
Figs. 1, 4, 23, 24, P. L. M. Railways of France.
Figs. 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, Swiss Federal Railroads.
Figs. 36, 37, American Scandinavian Review.
Figs. 40, 42, 46, Travel.
Figs. 45, 56, 58, Messrs. Sebah & Joaillier, Constantinople.
Figs. 52, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, Photos by Dr. B. Banks.
CONTENTS
CHAPTBB PAGE
Intkoduction . xiii
I. The Foundations 1
II. The Boundaeies of Feench and Germanic Languages in
Belgium and Luxemburg 19
III. The Franco-German Linguistic Boundary in Alsace-
Lorraine AND Switzerland 35
IV. Borderlands of Italian Language 59
V. Scandinavian and Baltic Languages 93
VI. The Area of Polish Speech ... . Ill
VII. Bohemian, Moravian and Slovakian 141
Vin. The Lands op Hungarian and Eumanian Languages . . 154
IX. The Balkan Peninsula and its Serbla.n Inhabitants . 174
X. Language Problems of the Balkan Peninsula . . . 192
XI. The Geographical Case of Turkey 221
XII. The Peoples of Turkey .... . . 271
Xni. Summary and Applications 314
Appendix A. German Settlements in Russia 343
Appendix B. The Balkan States Before and After the Wars
OF 1912-1913 345
Appendix C. Classification of Languages Spoken in Europe . 346
Appendix D. A Selected Bibliography 348
Appendix E. Key to Place Names 357
Index 367
LIST OF PLATES
I. The Franco-Flemish linguistic boundary 22
II. The Franco-German linguistic boundary in Alsace-Lorraine . 46
III. Austria-Hungary and parts of southeastern Europe showing
languages 82
IV. The area of Polish speech 118
V. Railroads in Turkey showing their connections and extensions 248
VI. European spheres of influence and territorial claims in
Turkey 266
VII. Part of Asiatic Turkey showing distribution of peoples . . 274
VIII. Distribution of Armenians in Turkish Armenia . . . 294
IX. Part of Europe showing languages having political signifi-
cance 334
xi
INTRODUCTION
• By Madison Grant
Mb. Dominian's book on. "The Frontiers of Language and
Nationality" is the logical outcome of the articles written by him
in 1915 in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society
under the titles of "Linguistic Areas in Europe: Their Bound-
aries and Political Significance" and "The Peoples of Northern
and Central Asiatic Turkey." In the present work the problems
arising from the distribution of main European languages and
from their relation to political boundaries are discussed with
clearness and brilliancy. The text embodies a vast collection of
facts and data laboriously collected by the author, who has applied
to the subject his familiarity with Eastern languages, as well as
an impartial vision which is hard to find in these days when our
judgments are so warped by the tragedy of the Great War.
The difficulty of depicting conditions geographically in colors
or with symbols is of necessity very great. The peasants who
form the majority of the population of most European states
often speak a different language or dialect from that of the
educated upper classes, and such lines of linguistic cleavage fre-
quently represent lines of race distinction as well. For example,
in Transylvania the language of about sixty per cent of the
inhabitants is Eumanian, while the literary, military and land-
owning classes speak either Magyar or German, and these Hun-
garians and Saxons, in addition to forming everywhere the ruling
class, are gathered together in many places in compact communi-
ties. A similar condition of affairs exists along the eastern
boundary of the German Empire, except that here the speech of
the peasants is Polish and that of the dominant classes German.
The preparation of the maps which accompany this volume
has been a task of peculiar difficulty. It is an easy matter to
show by colors the language spoken by actual majorities, but
xiv INTRODUCTION
such a delineation frequently fails to indicate the true literary-
language of the nation. Mr. Dominian's solution of these diffi-
culties has been a very successful one, and the resultant maps
are really of great value, especially where they deal with little-
known frontiers and obscure lines of demarcation, such as the
eastern and western frontiers of the German Empire.
In spite of exceptions, language gives us the best lines for the
boundaries of political units whenever those frontiers conform to
marked topographical features such as mountain systems. In
many cases where the boundaries of language and nationality
coincide they are found to lie along the crest of mountains or a
well-defined watershed, often along the base of plateaus or ele-
vated districts, and very seldom along rivers. But the boundaries
of nationality and of language, when they do coincide, seldom
correspond with those of race, and political boundaries are more
transitory and shifting than those of either language or race.
There are a few nations in Europe, chiefly small states, which
are composed of sharply contrasted languages and races, such
as Belgium, where the lowlands are inhabited by Flemish-
speaking Teutons, and the uplands by French-speaking Alpines.
Belgiimi is an artificial political unit of modem creation, and
consequently highly unstable. The Belgian upper classes are
bilingual, a condition which precedes a change of language, and
unless Flanders becomes united to Holland or Germany it is more
than probable that French speech will ultimately predominate
there also.
Among the Celtic-speaking peoples, we have in the highlands
of Scotland, in the mountains of Wales, in western Ireland and
in the interior of Brittany, remnants of two distinct forms of
Celtic speech. These diverse populations have, in common, only
their Celtic speech, and are not related, one to the other, by race.
As a matter of fact, the Scotch, the Welsh and the Bretons are
excellent representatives of the three most divergent races of
Europe. The Armorican-speaking Bretons are Alpine by race,
the Cymric-speaking Welshmen are Mediterranean, while the
Gaelic-speaking Scots are Nordic. In short, there is today neither
INTRODUCTION xv
a Celtic race nor any recognizable remnant of it. If one of these )
three peoples be Celtic in bodily characters, the other two must
of necessity not be Celtic, and furthermore, if we designate any
one of the three as Celtic by race, we must include in that term
other distant populations which by no stretch of the imagination
can be so regarded.
The literary revival of some Celtic dialects may be interesting,
but it will only serve to keep the Celtic-speaking populations stUl
more out of touch with the march of modem progress. In the
long run the fate of Erse, Gaelic, Cymric and Armorican is cer-
tain. They will be engulfed by the French language on the
continent, and by the English speech in the British Isles, just as
Cornish and Mairs have become extinct within a century .
In eastern Europe, the Slavic tongue of Bohemia and Moravia,
known as Czech, was fifty years ago on the point of utter collapse,
but the literary revival of Bohemia has been successful because
it had for support on the east a solid mass of Slavic speech and
the political power of Pan-Slavism, and in consequence was able
to hold its own against the encroaching German. These Slavic
dialects all through eastern Europe and the minor tongues else-
where are greatly handicapped by the lack of books, newspapers
and good literary forms. In the case of Erse and Cymric the
difficulties of the spelling are an almost insuperable obstacle. The
French language in Quebec and the various languages spoken
among newly arrived immigrants iu the United States will ulti-
mately meet the same fate, sLace a few million illiterate and
poverty-stricken habitants of Canada and a few million laborers
ia the United States must in the long run inevitably succumb to
the overwhelming power of the world language of the English
people.
Although race taken La its modem scientific meaning — ^the
actual physical character of man — originally implied a common
origin, it has today little or nothing to do with either nationality
or language, since nearly all the great nations of Europe are
composed of various proportions of two and sometimes all three
of the primary European races. The population of England owes
xvi INTRODUCTION
its blood to the Mediterranean and to the more recent Nordic
race. Germany is composed of a combination of Nordic and
Alpine, Italy of a mixture of Alpine and Mediterranean, while
France unites within her boundaries the Nordic in the north, the
Mediterranean in the south and the Alpine in the center. Spain
and Portugal, however, are overwhelmingly of Mediterranean
blood, while the Scandinavian races are purely Nordic. Thus it
is quite evident that nationality and language are independent
of race, and in fact the meaning of the word "race" as used not
only by the man in the street, but also by the historian, is based
on the spoken language. So far as race is concerned in its scien-
tific sense, there exists no such thing as a "Latin," a "Celtic,"
a "German," a "Slavic," or even an "Aryan" or "Caucasian"
race. These are linguistic terms, and are not correlated to bodily
characters.
Throughout Europe, as pointed out by Mr. Dominian, there is,
however, a close correspondence between topographical and geo-
logical land features, on the one hand, and the extent and spread
of language on the other. A similar close connection has been
noted between geographical features and race. Man's topo-
graphical surroundings are among the most potent elements of
environment, and have operated powerfully in the selection and
development of man, but they do not transform or change one
race into another. We have now discarded the old conception
that blondness has anything to do with latitude, or altitude.
(Where two distinct races compete in a given environment, it
generally happens that one or the other is better adapted to its
surroundings, and that race tends to increase at the expense of
its rival, with the result that one ultimately replaces the other.
The races of Europe were originally adjusted to a certain fixed
habitat, and when through conquest or conamercial expansion they
moved out of their native surroundings into unfamiliar ground,
they tended to disappear. In short, race supplies the raw
material, and environment is the molding force, or to use another
simile, "the oak tree and the poplar tree are both wood, but the
one can be polished by rubbing, while the other cannot." In
INTRODUCTION xvii
otlier words, the Greek genius and Hellenic culture were not
created by the irregularity and broken configuration of Greece,
and if the Greeks had been transplanted at an early time to
Arabia, it is hardly conceivable that the world would have seen
classic civilization in its most typical form. On the other hand,
we have no reason to believe that if the Arabs had settled in
Greece, they would have produced either Homer or the Parthenon.
If England had remained exclusively in the hands of its original
Mediterranean inhabitants, and if the Teutonic Nordics had not
conquered it, or even if the Nordic Normans had not reinforced
the Saxon strain, it is more than probable that the British Empire
would not have achieved its triumphs.
Geographical situation, conditions of soil and of climate,
mountain barriers, navigable rivers and abundant seaports have
a powerful, even a controlling environmental influence on the
raw material supplied by heredity, but in the last analysis it is
race that manifests itself by characteristic achievement.
The prevailing lack of race conscious iies s. in Europe compels
us to disregard it as a basis for nationality. In the existing
nations, races are generally scattered unevenly throughout the
map, and are nearly always grouped in classes, as originally race
was the basis of all class, caste and social distinctions. Eace
therefore being not available as a test of nationality, we are com-
pelled to resort to language. As a matter of fact, language is
the essential factor in the creation of national unity, because
national aspirations find their best expression through a national
language.
At the close of the Great European War the question of
national boundaries will undoubtedly come to the front and the
data collected and set forth in this book will be useful to a
thorough understanding of the problems involved. There is
reason to believe that if, at the termination of the Franco-
Prussian war, the international boundary in Alsace-Lorraine had
been run in conformity with the linguistic facts, much of the
bitter animosity of later years might have been avoided. Similar
problems Avill press for solution during the next few years, and
xviii INTRODUCTION
if a permanent peace is to be assured neither the Allies nor the
Central Empires can afford to create new Alsace-Lorraine or
Schleswig-Holstein problems by disregarding national aspirations-
as expressed and measured by a common language or literature^
In the Balkan states the difficulty of finding any political
boundaries that in any way correspond to race or language has
heretofore been insuperable, but when the Congress of the Nations
conyenes, whether this year or next, or the year after, every
member of it should be familiar with all facts that bear on the
case, and above all with the meaning of such facts, and there
exists today no book which covers these questions so fully, so
accurately and so impartially as Mr. Leon Dominiaa's "Frontiers.
of Language and Nationality."
THE FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND
NATIONALITY IN EUROPE
CHAPTEE I
THE FOUNDATIONS
The site of populous cities and of trim little towns was once
wild waste or sunless woodland. Our rude forefathers, wandering
upon uninhabited tracts, converted them into fair fields and
domains which their descendants rounded out eventually into
nations. Humanity has prospered and today we often think of
countries in terms of their characteristic landscape and scenery.
But the thought naturally suggested by the name France or
England is that of a nation whose people speak French or Eng-
lish. To separate the idea of language from that of nationality
is rarely possible.
To say that a man's accent betrays his nationality is another
way of stating that every language has a home of its own upon
the surface of the earth. A word or an accent will thrive or
wither like a tree according to region. In the earliest forms of
Aryan languages, words for fish or sea appear to be wanting —
a want which points to inland origins. The natives of the scorch-
ing equatorial lowlands have no word for ice in their dialects.
A further glimpse into the past is required for a proper estimate
of these facts. Man's conquest of a region is achieved in two
distinct stages. The first settlers rarely accomplish more than
a material hold. Their task is exclusively that of exacting sus-
tenance from the soil. Intellectual possession is taken at a later
stage. The land then becomes a source of inspiration to its
dwellers. Having provided for his material wants, man is now
able to cultivate ideals and give free rein to his artistic propensi-
ties. Instead of brooding in gloomy anxiety over future support
2 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
or becoming desperate through sheer want he is able to bestow
a leisure hour on a favorite recreation. In both of these stages,
his thoughts and the words used for their utterance are in har-
mony with their surroundings.
We therefore turn to the land for intimate acquaintance with
man and his culture. His very character is shaped in the mold
of his habitual haunt. And language is little more than the
expression of his character. The earnest Scotchman and the
steadfast Swede, both hardened by the schooling of a vigorous
climate, contrast strikingly with the impulsive Andalusian or the
fitful Sicilian trained to laxity and carelessness in the midst of
j)lenty. The revengeful Corsican is the native of an unblest
island, while the Eussian, bred in the vast and monotonous steppe,
cannot avoid injecting a strain of melancholy into the literary
treasures which he contributes to the human brotherhood.
The emotional ties which bind man to his country or to his
mother tongue are the same because they are rooted in the past.
A citizen of any country is conscious of his nationality whenever
he realizes that he has a common origin with his compatriots.
Language is merely the outward form of this feeling. But with-
out its unifying influence national solidarity cannot be perfected.
The growth of modern European nations and the spread of
their languages have been parallel developments. This parallelism
is founded on the material ties no less than on the spiritual
affinity which bind men to the earth. To furnish evidence of this
relationship lies within the province of geography. Historical
testimony is also at hand to show that political and linguistic
frontiers have tended to coincide during the past two centuries,
except where, artificial measures have been brought into play.
Broadly it may be submitted that the advance of civilization in
most countries has been marked by the progress of nationality,
while nationality itself has been consolidated by identity of
speech.
Language areas, in common with many other facts of geog-
raphy, have been largely determined by the character of the
surface or climate. Occurrences such as the extension of Polish
THE FOUNDATIONS 3
speech to the Carpathian barrier or the restriction of Flemish
to the lowland of northwestern central Europe, are not the work
of mere chance. An investigation of linguistic boundaries, there-
fore, implies recognition of the selective influence of surface
features. But the influence of region upon expansion or confine-
ment of language is far from absolute. " The part played by
economic factors will be shown in the following pages to have
been of prime importance.
Considered as political boundaries, linguistic lines of cleavage
have twofold importance. They are sanctioned by national
aspirations and they conform to a notable degree with physical
features. Every linguistic area considered in these pages bears
evidence of relation between language and its natural environment.
A basis of delimitation is therefore provided by nature. Eastern
extension of French to the Vosges, confinement of Czech to a
plateau inclosed by mountains, uniformity of language in open
plains and river basins, all are examples of the evidence provided
by geography for statesmen engaged in the task of revising
boundaries.
Europe may be aptly regarded as a vast field of settlement
where the native element has, again and again, been swamped by
successive flows of immigrants proceeding from every point of
the compass. The wanderings of these invaders have been
directed, in part, into channels provided by the main mountain
ranges of Eurasia. Valleys or plains Avhich favored expansion
of nationality were, at the same time, the avenues through which
languages spread. The barrier boundary of the Mediterranean
basin contains a number of important breaches on the north ^
which facilitated the mingling of the Nordic race with Mediter-
ranean men after it had mixed with Alpine peoples. Within
historic times men of Celtic speech have been driven westward
by Teutons, who also pressed Slavs in the opposite direction. The
consequence is that few Frenchmen or Germans of our day can
lay claim to racial purity. Northern France is perhaps more
* E. C. Semple: The Barrier Boundary of the Mediterranean Basin and Its Northern
Breaches as Factors in History, Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr., Vol. 5, 1915, pp. 27-59.
4 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Teutonic than southern Germany, while eastern Germany is, in
many places, more Slavic than Kussia. To ascribe political sig-
nificance to race is therefore as difficult today as it was when
Koman citizenship meant infinitely more in comparison.
Nationality, however, an artificial product derived from racial
raw material, confers distinctiveness based on history. It is the
cultivated plant, blossoming on racial soil and fertilized by his-
torical association. In the words of Ossian: "It is the voice of
years that have gone; they roll before me with all their deeds."
Men alone cannot constitute nationality. A nation is the joint
product of men and ideas. A heritage of ideals and traditions
held in common and accumulated during centuries becomes, in
time, the creation of the land to which it is confined.
Language, the medium in which is expressed successful
achievement or hardship shared in common, acquires therefore
cementing qualities. It is the bridge between the past and the
present. Its value as the cohesive power of nationality is super-
seded, in rare instances, by ideals similarly based on community
of tradition, hope, or in some cases religion. In speech or
writing, words give life to the emotion which nationality stirs
iln the heart or to the reasoning which it awakens in the
mind.
The distinction between the conceptions of race, language and
nationality should, at the very outset, be clearly established.
Eace deals with man both as a physical creature and as a being
endowed with spiritual qualities. Tall, blond men constitute a
race distinct from their fellows who combine stockiness and
brunetness. The basis of differentiation in this case is anatom-
ical. Hence, to talk of an English or Persian race is erroneous.
Every nation contains people endowed with widely different
physiques, owing to the extensive intermingling of races which
has taken place in the course of the million years during which
the earth has been inhabited. To be precise, our conception of
racial differences must conform to classifications recognized by
modern anthropologists. We shall therefore consider the Mediter-
ranean, Alpine and Nordic races — to mention only those com-
Flii. 1 — View i>t" the " nnito (TKalic " or road In Italy at the exlii'iiio south-
easter]! bonier of France and \\ell inside tlic small area of Italian lanyuaf^e lying
\\itliiii the Freiieh political Ijouiidary.
THE FOUNDATIONS 5
posed of white, men— and we shall find that they all blend in
European nationalities.
Take, as an example, the racial elements entering into the
composition of French nationality. The dominating type, in
northern France, belongs to the tall, narrow-headed Nordic race,
with blue eyes and fair hair. Frenchmen with these character-
istics are descendants of Franks and Gauls who settled in the
northern plains of the Paris basin. In Brittany and the Massif
Central, however, a round-headed and dark type, short and
stockily built, is scattered over the two main piles of Archean
moxmtains which still remain exposed to view. In the Aquitaine
basin, aswe;ll as in the Lower Rhone valley, the narrow-headed
Mediterranean race, with dark eyes and hair, is everywhere
evident in the short, brunet inhabitants.
Eipley adheres to the racial segregation of European man in
the three groups enumerated above. But a further reduction
can be established on a purely geographical basis, with the result
that Europeans may be classed primarily either as highlanders
or lowlanders. Anthropological classification fits admirably in
this dual distinction, since the inhabitants of European mountain
lands belong to the round-head type while the dwellers of the
depressions north and south of the central uplifts have long
heads.
From the conception of race we attain that of people by con-
sidering the second as derived from the mingling of the first.
Intercourse between the three great races of Europe has always
existed as a result of migratory movements. The impulse to
wander, however much it differed in each known instance, can
usually be traced to a single determining cause, definable as the
quest after comfort. This was the motive which led men of the
Nordic race to abandon their uncomfortable habitat in the north.
The same feeling was experienced by Alpine mountaineers as
they descended towards attractive lowlands north and south of
their rough mountain homes,
Nordics moving to the south and Alpines crowding toward
the lowland converged upon one another. No meeting of human
6 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
beings, in the entire history of mankind, has been fraught with
consequences of wider reach than the contact between members
of these, the two hardiest races which the world has produced.
European nationalities and Aryan languages were born in those
momentous meetings. The zone of contact extended from the
northwestern, lowland fringe of continental Europe to the saucer-
shaped land of Polesia. Along the depressed margin of western
Europe a heavy flow of Mediterranean men, moving constantly
northward, introduced a third element in the racial constituents
of French and British populations. Each of the three races
contributed a characteristic share of physical and moral traits to
the spirit of nationality in Europe. The Nordics left the impress
of their northern vigor wherever they passed. Their native
restlessness, the joint product of cold weather and a hard life,
became converted into a magnificent spirit of enterprise when-
ever it blended with Alpine hardiness or Mediterranean ambition.
The Alpines, often considered as the intellectual type, also
imparted the virility of highland physiques as they migrated to
the lowland. Last, but not least, Mediterranean men contributed
the softness of their native character as well as the fine qualities
due to a keen artistic sense. The fusion of the three races was
accompanied by the creation of the three great groups of
European peoples, known as Celts, Teutons and Slavs. The
differentiation of these peoples from the fused group occurred
at an early period and was probably in full swing towards the
close of the Neolithic.
We are thus led to picture the early home of Celtic dialects
on territory now falling under French, Dutch and German rule.
It is not unlikely that England and Ireland are areas of expan-
sion of this language. Eastward, it is known that the Celtic
territory extended at least as far as the Elbe. Beyond, in the
same direction, an ever widening wedge of Teutonic area inter-
posed itself between Celts and Slavs. The prehistoric home of the
Teutons will be found in the region around the western extremity
of the Baltic Sea. It comprised southern Sweden, Jutland, the
German Baltic coast to the Oder and the Baltic islands as far as
J'
Cupi/i'ifjilt bu Bi-uini Bros.
Fig. 2 — Sclnvarzwald scenery. A region of transitional dialects between High
and Low German.
THE FOUNDATIONS 7
Gothland. The Slav's original homeland had its site on an
imperfectly drained lake-bed extending westward from the middle
Dnieper valley to the Niemen and Priepet marshland.
From east to west on the Eurasian land mass the three main
forms of language occupy strictly geographical settings. Mono-
syllabic Chinese lies rigid and lifeless within its barriers of high
mountains and vast seas. The static condition of Chinese civili-
zation is reflected in the changeless form of its language. A new
idea requires a new word and a corresponding symbol. In the
wild and wide-stretching steppes of Siberia, communication of
thought or feeling is maintained through the medium of agglu-
tinative forms of speech. Grammatically, this marks an improve-
ment over the monosyllabic language. In the case considered
here it expresses the restlessness and mobility of steppe life. At
the same time inferiority of civilization is revealed by poverty
of ideas and consequently of words. In the west, however,
whether we consider western Asia or Europe, we deal with the
world's best nursery of civilization. In those regions are found
the highly inflected and flexible languages of the Aryan and
Semitic families. The grammar of these languages — a mere
adaptation to superior requirements of order and method — ren-
ders them particularly responsive to the constant improvement
in thought which characterizes western countries.
Aryan languages are spoken all the way from northern India
to Europe's westernmost confines. This territory comprises the
western extension of the central belt of high Eurasian mountains
together with its fringing lowlands. In its elevated portion it is
the domain of the Alpine race and of the Nordic in its depressed
northern border. On the other hand, that portion of the northern
Eurasian grasslands which extends into Europe forms part of
the area of Uralo-Altaic languages. It is sometimes contended
that the original home of Aryan languages was situated in north-
em Europe, where full-blooded northerners now speak languages
belonging to this family. But the weight of evidence in favor of
a central European origin will seem almost decisive when we
remember that culture and civilization have invariably proceeded
8 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
from temperate regions. The Aryans issued at first from the
contact of northern European lowlanders with the highlanders of
central Europe, subsequently mingled with the inhabitants of the
Mediterranean basin. As they migrated southward they must
have changed continually in race. Every absorption of southern
elements tended to modify their racial characteristics. A given
type therefore corresponds to a definite period and place. The
vagueness conveyed by the term Aryan, whether applied to lan-
guage or people, is to be explained by the inherent instability of
the subject.
A theoretical representation of the operation of this change,
may be offered by assuming that NA is the offspring of the first
Nordic N having come in contact with an Alpine A. The tendency
for NA is to migrate southwards. His offspring may be repre-
sented as NAA as the likelihood is that NA will have taken an
Alpine wife to himself. This is the prelude to a long series of
generations to each of which an A strain is added. At the same
time the steadily maintained migration of Nordics in a southerly
direction towards and beyond the territory occupied by the Alpines
tends to bring new N strains to the mixed product. At a given
stage contact with Mediterranean races becomes established and
the process of obliterating Nordic traits is intensified.
We thus see that as the northern invaders pressed southward
they became more or less absorbed in the indigenous populations.
Their physique changed and their individuality vanished. How-
ever great the strength of the invaders, they could bring rela-
tively few women in their train. This was especially true
whenever they operated in a mountainous country. The passes
through which their advance was made were open only to the
more vigorous in the bands of fighting men or adventurers.
At the end of the Neolithic, about 5,000 years ago,^ Europe
was the home of a type of man physically similar to any average
European of our day. This type is the product of long-continued
contact between the original human product of Europe, Asia and
Africa. The dawn of history finds him speaking Celtic in western
' The Neolithic lasted longer north of the Alps.
THE FOUNDATIONS 9
central Europe. An immense variety of dialects must then have
been spoken on the continent, since intercourse was slight. Their
fusion into modern languages has been the work of centuries.
Out of the linguistic sifting of the past two millenniums, three great
groups of languages have emerged: the Eomanic, Germanic and
Slavic, distributed over Europe from west to east. In these three
groups French, German and Eussian occupy respectively the
leading rank.
The distinction between the languages spoken in northern and
southern France was highly marked in early medieval days. The
langue d'oil in use north of a line starting at the mouth of the
Gironde Eiver and passing through Angouleme, L'Isle-Jourdain
and Eoanne eventually acquired ascendancy over the langue d'oo
spoken to the south.^ The dialect of this northern language
which prevailed in Ile-de-France was the precursor of modern
French. It spread rapidly throughout the country after the
acquisition of Aquitaine by French kings and the consolidation
of France by the annexation of Burgundian lands. The French
of Paris thus became a national language whose linguistic and
literary prestige is still strongly felt over the rest of the country.
' The dialects or patois spoken today in France all fall under one of these two
languages. They can be classified as follows:
Langtte d'Oo
Patois Spoken in the Departments of
Languedocian Gard, Hfirault, Pyr6n6es-Orientales, Aude, Ari6ge, Haute-Garonne,
Lot-et-Garonne, Tarn, Aveyron, Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne.
Provencal DrSme, Vaucluse, Bouehes-du-RhSne, Hautes- and Basses- Alpes, Var.
Dauphinois Is6re.
■ Lyonnais HhSne, Ain, Sa8ne-et-Loire.
Auvergnat Allier, Loire, Haute-Loire, ArdSche, Loz6re, Puy-de-D6me, Cantal.
Limousin CorrSze, Haute-Vienne, Creuse, Indre, Cher, Vienne, Dordogne,
Charente, Charente-Inffirieure, Indre-et-Loire.
Gascon Gironde, Landes, Hautes-PyrfeSes, Basses-Pyrtofies, Gers.
Langue d'Oil
Norman Normandie, Bretagne, Perche, Maine, Anjou, Poitou, Saintonge.
Picard Picardie, Ile-de-France, Artois, Flandre, Hainaut, Lower Maine,
Thigrache, Eethelois.
Burgundian Nivernais, Berry, Orlganaia, Lower Bourbonnais, part of Ile-de-
France, Champagne, Lorraine, Franche-Comtfi.
10 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The Eoman conquest of Gaul brought Latin to the country
because the civilization of the south was superior. At the time
of the coming of the Franks, the Latinized Gaulish language was
taken up by the conquerors because it also was the symbol of
Fig. 3 — Sketch map of France showing mountain areas and basins.
superior intellectual development. The conversion of barbarian
invaders to Christianity helped to maintain Latinized forms of
speech. The Latin of the Eomans was modified, however, by the
different local dialects. Thus the patois of langue d'oc and of
langue d'oil acquired resemblance through the leavening influence
of Latin.
As long as southern France exercised a preponderating influ-
M
to ~
'o 3
>H .2
;« ""'ag .
ij --^s^^^.
Fig. -j — A larmlioUfe in tlie 131aek i-"orust, a typical habitation in districts in
which High (Jcrman is spuken.
THE FOUNDATIONS 11
ence in national affairs, the langue d'oc occupied the first place
in the country. In the eleventh century it was spoken by the
leading classes in the north, as well as by the masses in the south.
Such, at least, is the testimony of manuscripts of this period.
But with the passing of power into the hands of northern French-
men, the langue d'oil came into wider use, until one of its patois
gave rise to the French which was subsequently to become the
medium of expression for the genius of Moliere and the notable
host of his literary countrymen.
Between the langue d'oc and the langue d'oil the difference
was that of north and south. The southern idioms expressed
feeling and harmony, hence they were preferred by poets. The
troubadours favored them exclusively during the Middle Ages.
The "parlers" of the north, on the other hand, were endowed
with the staying qualities of lucidity, order and precision. The
beauty of modern French, as well as the attraction it exerts on
cultivated minds, is due to its well-balanced blend of northern
and southern elements. French of our day is the shrine in which
the treasured remains of earlier centuries are still preserved. In
it the sunshine of the south pierces with its warm rays the
severity of northern earnestness. No other European language
can boast of an equally happy composition. In this respect it is
a true mirror of the French mind as well as of French nationality.
As spoken at present, French is derived in direct line from a
sub-dialect of the Picard patois formerly spoken in Paris and
Pontoise and which spread throughout all Ile-de-France. This
province may be aptly described as the bottom of the bowl-shaped
area of northern France. It owes its geographical distinctiveness
to the convergence of a number of important valleys which empty
the products of their fertility into the Paris basin lying in its
very center. Five of these irregular furrows, the Seine, Loing,
Yonne, Marne and Oise, radiate outwardly from the low-lying
Paris center. The ebb and flow of national power and language
sped its alternate course along their channels until, from being
the heart, Paris, always inseparable from its language, became
also the head of France.
12
FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The Frankish dukedom founded on such a site grew naturally
into a kingdom. And along with the establishment of a royal
court, the language of the region acquired part of the kingly
prestige. Herein we find the explanation of the derivation of the
name French from that of Frankish as well as of the language
from the local sub-dialect of the Picard patois. Already in the
thirteenth century, from this magnificently situated base as a
Pig. 6 — Part of France showing the contact between " langue d'oc " and " langue
d'oiil " countries. The shaded area represents the " langue d'oil " or northern lan-
guage. " Langue d'oc " prevailed in the unruled area. Between these two regions a
transitional zone, shown by broken ruling, intervened, in which a mixture of the
two languages was spoken.
center, both language and nation had absorbed additional terri-
tory by a process of steady outward growth. It was French
unity in the early making. As early as the twelfth century, no
northern nobleman dared appear at the French court without
having previously acquired familiarity with its language and
manners. The precious literary monuments of this century show
that this court language was already known as "Frangois." A
hundred years later, about 1260, French had acquired so much
polish and importance that we find- Italian writers using it in
preference to their own dialects. So in 1298, Marco Polo, a
Venetian, gives out the first account of his eastern travels in
French, while Brunetto Latini, who was Dante's tutor, writes his
Tesoreto in the same language, explaining his preference by
THE FOUNDATIONS 13
remarking that French "est plus delitaubles languages et plus
communs que moult d'autres."*
German was to become the language of central Europe. Inter-
posed between the territories of Eomanic and Slavic languages,
the area of German speech occupies a magnificently commanding
position. Originally the language spoken west of the Elbe and
Saale rivers, it had advanced considerably to the east ia the first
century of the Christian era. The imposition of Teutonic lan-
guage on Slavic populations is one of the results of this ancient
expansion of Germanic peoples. During the past thousand years
very little change in the distribution of the main German dialects
is believed to have taken place.
Modem German is generally divided into three sub-branches,
Low, High and Middle German. Low German, Niederdeutsch or
Plattdeutsch,^ the language of the plain, is restricted to the exten-
sive northern lowland. Dialects spoken in the northeastern corner
of Ehenish Prussia, Holstein, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and
Prussia enter into its composition. High German, Oberdeutsch
or Hochdeutsch, is the German of the highland. It comprises the
Bavarian, Swabian and Alemannic dialects of Bavaria, Wiirttem-
berg and Baden. Its use as the literary language of all German-
speaking people became well established in the Middle Ages.
Luther's translation of the Bible written in Saxonian dialect, a
combination of High and Middle German, contributed no mean
share to the diffusion of the language. Its use has been favored
by Germany's most noted writers since the seventeenth century.
Schools and newspapers tend to convert it eventually into the
only speech that will survive within German boundaries.
A fact of special importance can be traced among the causes
leading to the supplanting of Low German, the language of the
German plain, by High German as the national tongue. The
superiority of the highland dialect is due to its greater assimila-
* The terminal s, a, distinctly Latin form, is seen to persist in this early stage
of the language.
' Niederdeutsch is derived directly from Old Saxon, the language which enters
into the composition of the Anglo-Saxon current in England at the time of the
Norman Conquest.
14 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
tion of Celtic words. This civilizing influence of Celtic culture
is by no means a modern development in Germany. In the proto-
historic period it was mainly through contact with the Celts that
the Teutons became civilized. This intellectual dependence of the
Germans is revealed for the period about 300 b.c. by the then
existing civilization, which was entirely Celtic. The history that
spans the intervening years naturally brings to mind the influence
which French language has always had in Germany. Voltaire's
sojourn at the Prussian court does not rank among forgotten
episodes and it was not so long ago that Leibnitz had to resort to
French or Latin as the medium of his written expression.
The transition from the northern plain of Germany to the
high central regions is represented, on the surface, by a zone of
intermediate uplands in Saxony, Lusatia and Silesia. This area
is characterized linguistically by a transitional form of speech
between Low and High German." The similarity, however, of
this midland German to High German is observable to the extent
to which the rising land over which it is distributed presents
analogy to the mountainous region towards which it trends. The
transitional dialects include East, Middle and Rheno-Franconian,
as well as Thuringian. They occur in the middle Ehineland, the
banks of the Moselle, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony.
A bird's-eye view of the area of German speech shows that
the language prevails wherever a well-defined type of dwelling is
found. This representative habitation consists of a frame house
with an entrance in the middle of one of its long sides. The
hearth generally faces the threshold. Barns and outlying build-
ings do not connect with the main house, but form with it the
sides of an open inner yard. German houses can furthermore
be subdivided into three distinct sub-types which correspond to
the linguistic divisions of Low, Middle and High German. The
Saxon sub-type, which rarely rises above a single story, prevails
in the northern lowlands, while the Bavarian sub-type dots the
mountain districts which resound to High German. Between the
" Cf. Sheets 12a, Europe, Flusz-Gebirgakarte, and 12c, Europa, Sprachen- und
Viilkerkarte, both 1:12,000,000, in Dcbes: Handatlas.
THE FOUNDATIONS
15
two an intermediate sub-type of construction exists in the zone
of Middle German.
Eussian language while Slavic, and as such Indo-European,
is at the same time the transition speech between the Indo-
European and Uralo-Altaic groups. Its inflections connect it with
the western group. But the dominant use of vowels bears impress
of the strong influence exerted by Asia in the formation of the
SouOtern exte/isionoft/ie German lowiand
<Tcs/e ofmi/es
ii8-;vj ,'
Fig. 7 — Sketch map showing relative position of the three main areas in which
the dialects of German language are grouped.
language. The very consonants in Eussian are liquid and softened
so as to shade insensibly into vowels. These are characteristics
of Turkish and Finnish. The singular charm with which the
melodious sounds of the Eussian language greet a stranger's ears
is derived from this Asiatic strain. In spirit also the funda-
mental fatalism of Eussians increases in the eastern sections of
the country. The trait can hardly be characterized as Slavic. In
the case of the Poles or Bohemians, it gives place to buoyant
hopefulness which helps to color life and the world in roseate
hues. The fatalism of the Eussian is a relic of past habitat in
the interminable steppes of central Eurasia. The Turks whose
16 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
former roaming ground was the same are also imbued with this
spirit. It is the sophism of the level land. No matter how far
the horseman urged his mount, the same monotony met his gaze.
No effort on his part could ever change the prospect.
As late as the twelfth century the peoples of the basin of the
Volga spoke purely Tatar dialects. The wide and open steppes
of Siberia, extending without break into eastern Europe, poured
the overflow of their populations into the valleys of the Bussian
rivers which flow into the Black Sea. The great Russian cities
of the borderland between Europe and Asia were either founded
or Slavicized after the eleventh century. About that time the
Slavic dialects of the Vistula and the Dnieper began to blend
with the Asiatic languages of the Oka, Kliasma and Volga valleys.
Modern Eussian, a mixture of Slavic and Tatar or Mongolian
words, was born of this blending. In a broader sense it is the
expression of the union of Europe and Asia to create a Russian
nation, for Russia is the product of the ancient Russ or Ruthenian
principalities and the old Muscovite states. The former were
Slav and lay in Europe. The latter were Tatar and belonged
physically to Asia. As a nation the Russia of our time sprang
into existence at the end of the seventeenth century. Prior to
that period, its western section is known to history as the land
of Russ or Ruthenia. Its eastern part was Muscovy. Through
the union of the eastern and western sections the Russian Empire
of modern times came into being. No literary monuments ante-
date the birth of its nationality.
In Russia the Slav who is free from Asiatic contamination is
rarely met east of the 35th meridian. A line from Lake Ladoga
to Lake Ihnen and along this meridian to the mouth of the
Dnieper forms the divide between the Russians of Europe and
of Asia. The parting of the waters belonging respectively to
the Don and the Dnieper is, from a racial standpoint, the bound-
ary between the two groups. The Tatar in the Russian appears
east of this frontier. The Oriental customs which permeate
Russian life, the Tatar words of the Russian language, all begin
to assume intensity east of this dividing line, while to the west
Fig. 8.
Fig. 0.
Copyright hij i'mU'rwoo/l tt- Cmlerwood
Fig. 8 — This group of Russian officers ooiiveys an idea of the excessive racial
mingling in Itussia. Alpine and Tatar features can be recognized as dominant.
Fig. !) — Tlie heart of itoscow witli the Ijuildings of tlie Kremlin in the background.
THE FOUNDATIONS 17
the spirit of the vast stretch of north Asiatic steppes disappears.
Thus the cominonly accepted Ural frontier of European and
Asiatic Russia is unwarranted in the light of ethnic facts. The
inhabitants of the Volga lands are essentially Asiatics among
whom the numerically inferior Slav element has become dominant.
Asia's linguistic contribution to Europe is the gift of its
unwooded steppelands. The immense tract of monotonous country
extending west of the Altai Mountains to Europe is the home of
a family of languages known as the Uralo-Altaic. Among these
the highly vocalic branch of Finno-Ugrian traveled west with the
nomadic herdsmen who used it. In Europe it acquired the polish
which brought it to the forms recognized respectively as Finnish
or Suomi and Hungarian. Both enjoy the distinction of being
the most cultivated of the great northern Asiatic family of lan-
guages. The case of Finnish is especially remarkable owing to
its high development without loss of its original agglutinative
character.
The picture of this linguistic evolution can be painted only
with the colors of geography. The well-defined individuality of
the Hungarian Puszta has its counterpart in the Siberian steppe
region. The one is the reproduction of the other in small — a
miniature. Both consist of undulating land, devoid of mountains
or hills, and covered by deep sand. In Finland too a remarkably
level stretch of granite land, marked by gentle swelling, lies under
a sandy glacial mantle. The two European regions have only
one advantage over their Asiatic type. They are better watered.
The furthest penetration of Eurasian lowlands into Europe is
obtained through them. The approach to Hungary is made
without a break, through the valley of the Danube. To Finland
access is equally easy once the Urals are crossed. That this range
proved no obstacle to the westerly spread of central Asiatic
peoples is indicated by their presence west of its axis and their
settlement in the Volga valley prior to Slav inroads. But neither
in lake-dotted Finnish lands nor within the limited and mountain-
hedged area of Hungary could the Asiatic invaders find room
for expansion or nomadism. From herdsmen they became
18 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
farmers. The change is the dawn of their history as a European
nation, and of the development of every manifestation of their
culture. A more advanced language became the measure of the
increasingly complex character of their needs — that is to say, of
higher civilization. The whole story, traced from its origin,
illustrates the superior civilizing power vested in European
geography. In the sterile steppes of the northern half of Asia
man led an easier life than in the cramped regions of diversified
Europe. On the broad flatlands of the east he roamed with little
thought of the morrow and without incentive to improve his
condition. In the west he was spurred to activity by the very
limitations of his homeland.
In our day about seventy different languages are spoken in
Kussia. In this fact is found a serious drawback to effective
national unity. Fortunately the spread of the dialects belonging
to the Slavic group of languages is steady. The thorough Slav-
icization of the peoples of the basin of the Volga is not yet ended,
but Great Eussian is gradually uprooting the native Uralo-Altaic
tongues. It is also imposing itself upon Asiatic languages in
Caucasia and Transcaspian territory. Wherever there has been
a thorough blending of dialects into Eussian, nationality has
sprung into existence. Elsewhere unity is in process of forma-
tion. The problem before the governing class consists in hasten-
ing the assimilation of the different elements to the original
Slavic nucleus. Not until this consummation has taken place will
the country have developed its full strength. And the measure
of progress will be indicated by the growing replacement of the
numerous dialects by a single national language.
Looking back over the stormy centuries during which French,
German and Eussian nationalities were elaborated, we behold the
formative influence of language everywhere. Aspirations which
precede the period of free and unfettered national life give way
to achievement when national hopes are crowned. This we shall
find in greater detail in the succeeding chapters.
r-J OJ
CHAPTEE II
THE BOUNDARIES OF FRENCH AND GERMANIC LANGUAGES
IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG
The western section of the Franco-German linguistic boundary
extends over Belgian territory tlirough a country in whicli the
formation of nationality has been exceedingly laborious. Flemish
and Walloon, two languages within a single political boundary,
represent the obstacles which stood in the Avay of national growth.
Physically Belgium also consists of diversified regions. Its his-
tory is the long drawn-out struggle between two powerful neigh-
bors. Over and over again its inhabitants have found themselves
drawn into foreign quarrels against their will.
The country is a marshland in which the mountains and plains
of Europe meet. The main divisions which correspond to this
background have inherited the names of Flanders and Wallonia.
The clashing-ground of men of the Alpine and Nordic races,
Belgium received wave after wave of northerners who came to
colonize its broad flatlands. At the time of the conquest, the
Eomans came upon long-established colonies, but found to their
cost that Teuton invasions were not ended. In the fifth century
of our era the northern lowland was cleared of Eomans by the
Franks; but to this day the dualism of its people has not been
obliterated. To whatever extent inbreeding has destroyed racial
purity, the Fleming of our day represents the Nordic race, while
the Walloon is mainly Alpine. Of the two, the fair-complexioned
product of the north speaks a Teutonic language, whereas the
swarthy highlander is both the user and disseminator of French.
At the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843,^ the Schelde
became the dividing line between Lotharingia and France.
' The importance of the treaty of Verdun of this date with regard to the conflict
between the French and the German languages ia pointed out in the next chapter.
19
20 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Flemings and Walloons, who had been thrown together for cen-
turies, were separated into an eastern and a western group.
Nevertheless their struggle for unity and independence continued
to fill Belgium's history. In the ensuing period of national trials,
the political disruption of the country is manifested by the growth
of civic communities. Belgium became in turn a Burgundian, an
Austrian and a Spanish province. The golden age of the Bur-
gundian period brought prosperity to the land, but economic
decadence accompanied the prolonged strife between Hapsburgs
and Bourbons. It was Belgium's misfortune to be the scene on
which the rivalry was fought out. With a population reduced by
the horrors of war, Belgium emerged from under the heel of
Spanish oppression only to fall successively under Austrian,
French and Dutch domination. But the seed of nationality,
planted upon its uncertain soil when the valley of the Schelde
became part of Burgundy, sheltered a smouldering vitality which,
finally, in the nineteenth century was fanned to independence.
The line of contact between French and the languages belong-
ing to the Germanic group begins at the sea on French soil.
Starting a few miles west of Dunkirk,^ the linguistic divide fol-
lows a direction which is generally parallel to the political
boundary between France and Belgium until, a few miles east
of Aire, it strikes northeast to Halluin, which remains within
the area of French speech. From this point on to Sicken-Sussen,
near the German border, the line assumes an almost due east
trend.
This division corresponds broadly to the mountainous and
depressed areas into which Belgium is divided. The upland has
always been the home of French. Walloon is but a modified form
of the old langue d'oil.^ Flemish, on the other hand, is a Ger-
manic language which spread over Belgian lowlands as naturally
as the Low German dialects to which it is related had invaded
' G. Kurth: La fronti6re linguistique en Belgique et dans le nord de la France,
Mim. couronnds, Acad. R. Sci. Let. et Beaux-Arts de Belg., XLVIII, Vol. 1, 1895,
Vol. 2, 1898, Brussels.
" Cf. Map, " Ausbreitung der Eomaniachen Sprachen in Europa," 1:8,000,000,
in Grober: Grundriss der Eomaniachen Philologie, Trubner, Strassburg, 1904-1906.
LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG 21
the plains of northern Europe. This east-west line also marks
the separation of the tall, blond, long-skulled Flemings from the
short, dark, round-skull Alpine Walloons.
The remarkably straight course of the linguistic divide, in
Belgian territory, is generally regarded as an effect of the plain
over which it extends. Whatever ruggedness it may have once
possessed has been smoothed away in the course of centuries by
the ease with which either Flemish or French could spread in the
low-lying flatland. The two languages have now been facing each
other for about four centuries. Place names indicate that the
variations of the line have been slight. It is a rare occurrence
to find Eoman village names north of its present extension.
Teutonic roots, in locality names to the south, are likewise
unusual. A few can be traced. Waterloo, Tubize, Clabecq, Ohain
were once Flemish settlements. Tubize was originally known as
Tweebeek and became a Walloon center in the fifteenth century.
Ohain likewise is known in the form of Olhem in twelfth century
documents.
Belgium's linguistic dualism prevailed throughout the five
centuries of the Eoman occupation. Intercourse at that time
between the Belgae dwelling south of the Via Agrippa, and the
Eomans who were pushing steadily northwards was frequent and
intimate. The Latin of the Eoman invaders, modified by the
Celtic and Germanic of native populations, gave birth eventually
to the Walloon of subsequent times.* The Belgae of the lowlands
farther north, however, successfully resisted the efforts made by
the Eomans to conquer them. The marshes of their nether coun-
try, and the forested area which was to be laid bare by the monks
of the Middle Ages, constituted a stronghold in the shelter of
which Germanic dialects took root. This forested area— the Sylva
Carbonaria of the Eomans— was the chief geographical feature
which prevented thorough fusion of Flemings and Walloons. It
was the westernmost extension of the Ardennes forests and its
■* The Belgae of Caesar are probably represented by the Teutonic populations of
northern France — Flanders and Batavia— rather than by the Walloon. They are a
Germanic tribe who made their appearance in Belgium about the third century, b.o.
22 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
gloomy solitudes covered the largest part of the territory which
has since become the province of Hainaut. Beyond its northern
boundary lay the lands of Teutonic culture and language. To
the Flemings, living north of the wooded curtain, the Gallo-
Eomans, who became known as Walloons, were the Walas or
"foreigners" who dwelt south of the tree-studded barrier. A
sharply defined line of separation intensified, in this manner, all
pre-existing racial differences.
At a later date, the growth of the temporal power of the
Eoman Church resulted in the establishment of a number of
bishoprics over districts segregated irrespectively of linguistic
differences. Perhaps one of the most striking features of Belgian
history is found in the fact that its linguistic and political bound-
aries have never coincided. Every century is marked by renewal
of the age-long clashes between the northern and southern races
which have been thrown in contact along the western end of the
line which separates the plains of northern Europe from the
mountainous southland of the continent.
It may be gathered from all this that the linguistic line of
cleavage has undergone very little modification in the course of
centuries.^ It now divides the country into a northern section,
the inhabitants of which consider Flemish as their vernacular,
but who also generally understand French, and a southern section
peopled by French-speaking inhabitants, who adhere to the use
of Walloon dialects in the intimacy of their home life. To the
east, the political frontier between Belgium and Germany does
not divide the two countries linguistically. Within Prussian terri-
tory, Malmedy and a group of fifteen villages are inhabited by
a French-speaking folk. As though to offset this intrusion of
French speech on Prussian soil, a corresponding area of German
speech is found in the Belgian province of Luxemburg around
Arlon." Altogether about 31,500 Belgians employ German as a
vernacular.
■ G. Touchard: Les langues parlies en Belgique, Le Mouv. GSogr., May 11, lOlS,
pp. 226-229.
'N. Warker: Die deutsche Orts- und Ge-wassemamen der Belgischen Provinz
Luxemburg, Deutsche Erde, Vol. 8, 1909, pp. 99, 139.
The American Geographical Society of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1 917, PL I
LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG 23
The figures of the last (Dec. 31, 1910) Belgian census ' show
that the Flemish provinces are bilingual, whereas the Walloon
region is altogether French. Knowledge of French as an educa-
tional and business requirement accounts for its occurrence in
Flanders. The Eomance language, therefore, tends to supersede
the Germanic idiom as a national vernacular. The utter absence
of Flemish in the Belgian Congo constitutes perhaps the strongest
evidence in favor of French as Belgium's national language.
In northwestern France, the language of the plain has, since
the thirteenth century, steadily receded before the uplander's
speech. At that time Flemish was spoken as far south as the
region between Boulogne and Aire.* The area spreading east of
the Atlantic, between the present linguistic boundary and a line
connecting these two cities, is now bilingual with French pre-
dominating. It might be noted here, however, that Boulogne has
been a French-speaking city since Frankish days.
The use of Flemish in France is restricted to the two arron-
dissements of Dunkirk and Hazebrouck as well as to a few
communes of Lille. Dewachter's studies" in this locality have
been summarized by Blanchard.^" According to these investi-
gations, the arrondissement of Dunkirk contains 41 Flemish-
speaking communes, four of purely French language and 20 of
dual speech. Of the last, only five reveal a majority of Flemish
speakers. In Hazebrouck there are 36 Flemish communes, eight
French and nine bilingual. Five of the latter show French
predominance. In the arrondissement of Lille, Flemish is spoken
only in six bilingual communes, four of which have a majority
of French-speaking residents. Furthermore a few Flemish-
speaking families are found in the suburbs of St. Omer as well
as in a commune near by. About one-third of the inhabitants
' Statistique de la Belgique, Recensement General de 1910, Vol. 2, 1912, Vol. 3,
1913, Brussels.
' G. Kurth : op. cit. Kurth's work is based partly on place names. See also L.
De Backer: La langue flamande en Prance, Samyn, Ghent, 1893.
" Le flamand et le francais dans le nord de la France, 2™e Congr&s international
pour I'extension et la culture de la langue frangaise, Weissenbruch, Brussels, 1908.
*° Le flamand dans le nord de la France, Ann. de 06ogr., Vol. 20, Dec. 15, 1909,
pp. 374-375.
24 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of Tourcoing understand Flemish. This is also true of one-half
the population of Boubaix. In each of the cities of Lille and
Armentieres, the ratio falls to one-quarter. Outside of the
Flemish-tainted communes of the arrondissement of Lille, the
boundary of this language is indicated by the course of the Aa,
the canal of Neuffosse and the Lys.
The progress of French, in the Flemish-speaking districts of
France, may be followed through the growing invasion of French
words in the local vernaculars. The Flemish spoken in Dunkirk
or Hazebrouck is an archaic dialect which is growing further and
further away from the Flemish of Belgium, as this language
tends to identify itself with Dutch in order to acquire literary
form. As a rule, French is gradually replacing the Germanic
idiom throughout the line of linguistic contact. The Frenchifying
of the communes between the Aa and Dunkirk has taken place
within the last fifty years. In the same period, Flemish has
almost entirely disappeared from the suburbs of St. Omer, and
the progress of French towards Cassel and Hazebrouck becomes
yearly more apparent. The bilingual aptitude of the inhabitants
in all of these localities is on the increase in the sense that many
of the Flemings are acquiring proficiency in French. Business
requirements in a large degree account for the change.
The only opposition to the advance of French is found in the
Flemish immigration which brings fresh linguistic energy in its
train. Fortunately for the Eomance language, the tide of this
immigration is weak and the newcomers are easily assimilated by
the French-speaking element. A locality in which the decline of
French is noticeable is found in the vicinity of Menin on the
Lys river. The number of Flemish immigrants is particularly
heavy in this region. Communes which have been French since
immemorial times are fast becoming Flemish. Everywhere else,
however, French is steadily encroaching upon the domain of
Grermanic speech.
Brussels typifies the bilingual character of the country of
which it is the capital. French and Flemish are spoken both in
its precincts and suburbs. The distribution of inhabitants,
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 12 is a view of tlic lowlyiiif; plain of Flaiiilcrs in tlic vicinity of Waterloo.
Fig. 1.3 — Shows the environs of t'liaudfontaine and <;i^f'^ an e.xcellent glimpse of
the hilly country in whicii Walloon language lias held ils o«n. 'riie>~e two photo-
graphs show the contrast between the areas of \A'alloon and Flcmisli in LJelgium.
LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG 25
according to communes or wards, showed Frencli predominance
on December 31, 1910, as follows :
Speaking
Communes Number of French- Flemish- French and
(wards) inhabitants speaking speaking Plemisli
Bruxelles 177,078 47,385 29,081 85,414
AnderlecM 64,157 11,211 24,320 23,486
Etterbeek 33,227 11,107 6,596 13,166
Forest 24,228 7,975 5,247 8,756
IxeUes 72,991 39,473 6,733 19,799
Jette 14,782 1,811 7,775 4,191
Koekelberg 12,750 1,770 5,702 4,378
Laeken 35,024 4,720 12,702 15,230
Molenbeek-St. Jean 72,783 11,663 24,910 31,331
Saint-Gilles 63,140 24,376 5,928 27,497
Saint-Josseten-Noode . . . 31,865 10,547 3,349 14,859
Sehaerbeek 82,480 20,975 13,677 40,525
Ucele 26,979 5,818 9,074 10,169
Woluwe— St. Lambert . . . 8,883 2,035 3,839 2,262
Totals 720,367 200,866 158,933 301,063
i
Although Brussels is generally placed on the Flemish side of
the linguistic divide, it is interesting to note that the city may
appropriately be considered as the northernmost extension of
the area of Romance languages in Belgium. Only two villages of
Flemish speech intervene between the capital and the Walloon
area. They are Ehode-Saint-Genese and Hoeylaert. Were it not
for these two small communities, Brussels would not be an enclave
of French speech in Flemish territory. But the two villages are
separated by the forest of Soignes which extends in an elongated
band, all the way south of Uccle and Boitsfort, to within reach of
Waterloo. This wooded area acts as a link which connects
Brussels with the ancient area of Romance speech. It tends to
restrict Flemish in this section to the lowland to which it really
belongs.
Within the city limits the canal, which now replaces the natural
water course flowing on the site, divides Brussels into Flemish-
speaking quarters and districts entirely given up to French lan-
guage. West of the waterway, the native vernacular prevails
predominantly. This section of the Belgian capital is the site of
its industries. Its population consists mainly of laborers. As
26 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
early as the twelftli century, the members of the city's guilds
found it convenient to reside along the banks of the stream which
watered the heart of their settlement. In our day, this part of
3 Asache
°Weminei
oZeWck
Bodeghem-StMartin.
oMachelen
oWobme-
St.Etienne
Itterbeek
aSchepdael
Ohain
Fig. 14 — Sketch, map of the environs of Brussels showing the forested patch of
Soignes intervening between the Brussels area of French language (shown by dots)
and the adjacent part of the area of the French language in Belgium (also shown
by dots). The blank area is territory of Flemish speech. (Based on a map by P.
Eeclus in La Giographie, Yol. 28, 1913, p. 312.)
Brussels presents similar advantages to factory owners and
operators of industrial plants.
The rising ground east of the canal has always been favored
as a residential site by the leaders of the community. In the
LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG 27
Middle Ages the counts of Brabant erected their palace on the
summit of this eminence. Since then the well-to-do residents of
Brussels have built their homes on this side of the canal. The
bourgeois class followed the lead of the aristocracy as soon as
their commercial and industrial revenues equaled those of their
titled countrymen. French, the language of culture in the land,
naturally took root in this eastern section of Brussels. The
tendency of the privileged classes to select this part of the city
for their residence is as strong today as in the past. The bracing
air of the heights and of the forest of Soignes near by affords
an inducement which cannot be found in the bottom of the valley.
Spacious avenues enlivened by elaborate residences extend along
the crest lines. The intervening blocks are tenanted by the middle
classes. Educational institutions also flourish in these eastern
wards of Brussels. French prevails overwhelmingly in all their
nooks and bypaths.
The growth of French in Brussels is strongly brought out by
a comparison of the following census figures for the years 1846
and 1910:
1846 1910
French-speaking inhabitants 70,000 480,000
Flemish " « 130,000 280,000
Totals 200,000 760,000
The gradual replacement of Flemish by French in Brussels
may often be traced to recent changes in the growth of the city."
In the faubourgs of Woluwe, Boitsfort and Uccle the number of
users of French is on the increase each year. The growth pro-
ceeds with sufficient regularity to forecast a thorough spread of
the language by 1935. In some cases it is easy to foresee that
some of the outlying villages will be Frenchified sooner than
certain wards of the western part of the city. Tervueren and
Linkebeek, for instance, are both noted for the charm of their
scenery. Both are centers of attraction for the well-to-do
Belgians and as a result tend to lose their Flemish character.
^* p. Reclua: Les progrSs du Frangais dans I'agglomgration Bruxelloise, La G6ogr.,
Vol. 28, No. 5, Nov. 15, 1913, pp. 308-318.
28 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
In recent years a keen struggle for predominance between
Flemings and Walloons has been observed in every province of
tbe country. Each element aspires to impose its racial traits,
customs and ideals on its rival. The contest sometimes degen-
erates into extreme bitterness. The university, the street, the
theater, even the government offices are converted into scenes of
polemical wrangling. News items in the dailies reveal a constant
state of tension between "Flammigants" and "Fransquillons."
In this racial struggle, language has been adopted as the rallying
standard of both parties. Each faction consistently aims to
eliminate the study of the rival tongue in the primary schools of
its territory.
The Walloons now represent a true blend of northern, central
and southern European types. The mingling was attended by
the clash and contest which has always marked racial fusion. As
a language Walloon forced itself into existence out of the confu-
sion which followed a long bilingual period and by the sheer
obstinacy of an humble Belgo-Eoman people whose ears had been
attuned to vernacular speech at church and school. It was no
mean feat for the inhabitants of the principality of Liege to have
retained their language, surrounded as they were by Germanic
peoples on all sides but one. The ancient state had the shape of
a triangle whose base abutted against a land of French speech.
Its sides, however, on the north and the east penetrated like a
wedge into districts of Flemish and German.
The language became prevalent in the principality of Wal-
lonia after the tenth century. It was then still in a state of
infancy and the literature of its early period is relatively poor."
Contrasted with official and aristocratic French the Walloon was
a dialect of little account, prior to the eighteenth century. Since
that time, however, genuine interest has been manifested in its
folk-tales and literature by educated Frenchmen. But it remained
for Dutch presumption to give a final impetus to the revival of
*" M. Wilmotte: Le Wallon, histoire, littfirature dea origines a la fin du XVIIe
sificle, Eosez, Brussels, 1893. J. Demarteau: Le Wallon, son histoire et sa littfirature,
Liege, 1889.
LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG 29
Walloon. By the terms of tlie treaty of Vienna, Belgium and
Holland had been assembled into a single state known as the
Netherlands. The Dutch represented the dominant element in the
union. Their endeavor to impose their language on the Flemings
and Walloons was vigorously resisted by the latter. The streets
of Belgian towns resounded with the hatred of the Dutch
expressed in Walloon words.^^ The separation of Belgium from
Holland in 1830 was in a sense the expression of the linguistic
diversity which had characterized the kingdom of the Nether-
lands.
Fusion of the two elements of the Belgian population is
observable in the Brabant country, in the vicinity of the linguistic
frontier. Flemish laborers tend to invade Walloon settlements
with the result that the number of inhabitants of Flemish speech
is on the increase. A counter immigration of Walloons into
Flemish villages also exists, with a corresponding addition to the
number of French-speaking inhabitants wherever it takes place.
The fact remains, however, that while Flemings acquire the
French spoken by Walloons, it is an extremely rare occurrence
for the latter to take up Flemish. In the course of time the
Flemish immigrant in Walloon villages learns French, while the
Walloon newcomer in Flemish villages manages to impose his
language on his new neighbors. The net result is a gain for the
French language.
Today, after almost a hundred years' quiescence, the Belgian
question enters upon another critical stage. The problem is one
of language in so far as the two languages spoken in the country
represent the aims and interests of two different peoples. The
Belgian question dates, in reality, from the treaty of Verdun of
843 and the partition of Charlemagne's empire. Belgium then
became the westernmost province of the transition state known
as Lothringia. It was the hedge-country artificially created to
act as a barrier between the peoples of Eomanic and Teutonic
speech. Its population, drawn from both elements, has been the
alternate prey of French and German powers. But all of Bel-
*' J. Demarteau: op. cit., p. 134.
30 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
gium's troubled history has been affected by the shape of the
land. The only frontier with which the nation has been supplied
by nature is the sea on the west. On the other three sides land
features merge gradually with the main types in their neighbor-
hood. "Within Belgian territory, the lowlands of northern Europe
join with the outliers of the uplifts of central Europe and
their extension into France. Nowhere is the break sharp. The
basin of the Schelde itself trespasses on the neighboring basins
of the Ehine, the Meuse and the Somme.
Aggravation of the feud between Walloons and Flemings may
lead to secession. The Flemish provinces might then cast their
political lot with the Dutch, with whom their intercourse has been
marked by a degree of friendliness which has never characterized
their relations with other neighbors. This extreme course might
not unreasonably be adopted as a measure of self-preservation.^*
The languages spoken in Holland and Flanders are practically
identical. Eeligious differences alone have stood in the way of
political fusion in the past. Flemish princes, swayed by religious
scruples, had refused to side with the Protestant communities
whose political connection had been established by the Union of
Utrecht in 1597. The menace of absorption by Germany may yet
drive the Flemings to union with their close kinsmen of the low-
lands on the north. Walloons would then naturally revert to
French allegiance. The coincidence of political and linguistic
boundaries in the westernmost section of central Europe would
then become an accomplished fact.
The language of the Duchy of Luxemburg is a Low German
dialect in which a strong proportion of Walloon French words
is found. French is taught in schools and is the language of the
educated classes. It is also used in tribunals, and in many places
as the official language of governing and administrative bodies.
The use of French is largely due to intimate intellectual ties which
bind Luxemburgers and Frenchmen. It is estimated that at least
" Germany's violation of Belgian neutrality in 1914 has been followed by
systematic endeavors to induce Flemings to favor annexation of their land to Germany
on the plea of ancestral kinship.
LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG 31
30,000 natives of the Grand Duchy, or about one-eight'li of its
population, emigrate to France for business reasons. Many
marry French, women. Maternal influences prevail with the chil-
dren born of these unions with the result that, upon returning to
their native land, the families bring French speech along.
But French as a commercial language is on the wane through-
out the Grand Duchy. German has been replacing it gradually
since 1870. This is one of the results of the small state's admis-
sion into the ring of German customs. Prior to that period
business was transacted mainly in the French dialect of Lorraine.
The spread of German is furthermore the result of a system-
atically conducted propaganda carried on with well-sustained
determination. German "school associations" and "Volks-
vereine," established in every city of importance, help to spread
German speech and thought. Lectures of the type entitled "The
beauty of Schiller's and Goethe's speech" are delivered by
orators who are in reality skilled pioneers of empire engaged in
the work of reclaiming populations to Germanism. The efficiency
of their methods is proved by the results they have obtained. Out
of a population of about 21,000 inhabitants, hardly 4,000 natives
of Luxemburg speak French exclusively, while of the six or seven
papers published in the capital, two alone are issued in French.
This closing of the German grip over the land stimulated the
growth of national feeling among the inhabitants. They were
reminded by their leaders that, from having formerly been one
of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands, the duchy acquired
the status of a sovereign state in 1890, on the accession of Queen
Wilhelmina to the throne. Henceforth the maintenance of Lux-
emburg's independence rests on the European powers' observ-
ance of the pledges by which they guaranteed national freedom
for this little state." The natives are free from the burden of
onerous taxation imposed on inhabitants of the neighboring pow-
erful countries. Peaceful development of their commerce and
" Luxemburg's neutrality was guaranteed by the treaty of London, May 11, 1867,
to which Britain, Austria, Prussia, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Russia were
signatories.
32 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
industry is thus facilitated. Their land is richly endowed by
nature. The wine produced in the Moselle valley and the exten-
sive deposits of high grade iron ore found around Etsch make
the community one of the most prosperous on the European
continent.
Nevertheless the country seemed predestined by nature itself
to form a part of Germany. The broken surface of the Ardenne
hUly region and the extension of the plateau of Lorraine are
drained by the Sauer and Moselle into German territory. The
life of the inhabitants of the entire state is influenced by this
easterly drift and tends yearly to greater dispersal in the same
direction. This is the danger which prompts them to cling to
their independence with patriotic tenacity. Their feelings are
reflected in their national hymn, which begins with the words
"Mir welle bleiwe wat mer sin " (We wish to remain what we
are). These are the words of the tune rendered daily at noon by
the chimes of the Cathedral of Luxemburg.
Some fifty miles north of Luxemburg, and at the point of
contact of the French, German and Dutch languages, lies the
neutral territory of Moresnet, barely three and a quarter square
miles in area. This forgotten bit of independent land is claimed
by both Prussia and Belgium on account of the exceedingly
valuable zinc deposits which it contains. It has a population of
some 3,000 inhabitants who, alone among Europeans, enjoy the
inestimable privilege of not paying taxes to any government. A
Burgomaster, selected alternately from among Prussian and
Belgian subjects, rules this diminutive state in conjunction with
a Communal Council.
The survival of such a relic of medieval political disorders
was due to the impossibility of making a settlement between the
two claimants of its territory. In the fifteenth century its mines
were the property of the Dukes of Limburg, who had leased them
to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Shortly after the French
Revolution, they were declared national property by the French
Eepublic and were operated by the government.^* With the fall
" The Neutral Territory of Moresnet, Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1882, p. 14,
LANGUAGES IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBURG 33
of Napoleon, the estate passed under the management of both
Prussia and Holland. After the Belgian revolution of 1830, how-
ever, the entire property became pajt of Belgium's share. A
demand for rents in arrears from the lessee by Prussia, although
recognized as valid by the courts of Liege, was not approved by
the new Belgian state and the only compromise that could be
reached was a declaration of the neutrality of the ter-
ritory.
The Belgian question as well as the related Luxemburg and
Moresnet problems, the latter being of slight significance, present
themselves today as economic settlements no less than political
adjustments. The inner reason which had led German hope to
dwell on the annexation of Belgium is the knowledge that such
an addition in territory would convert Germany into the dominat-
ing industrial nation of Europe. This position of superiority
would be firmly established if, in addition, the French basins of
Longwy and Briey could be turned into Eeichslands, as had been
done with Alsace-Lorraine in 1870. Fortunately for Europe, the
developments of the armed contest begun in 1914 proved that the
threat of this economic vassalage is no longer to be feared. Inci-
dentally it is worth remembering that its realization would
obviously have been followed by the loss of Holland's inde-
pendence.
Belgium's political independence is therefore a necessity for
the fine adjustment of the balance of European industrial life.
And there are quarters where such economic considerations
carry greater weight than national sentiments. The main point
to be made, however, is that Belgian nationality is entitled to
survival, whether it be examined from a material or a moral
standpoint. Changes, if any, of its frontiers are indicated in the
east, where Malmedy and its environs in Ehenish Prussia consti-
tute a domain of French language. The exchange of this territory
for districts of German speech in Belgian Luxemburg and the
strategic reinforcement of this eastern frontier, as a safeguard
against future aggression, are desirable for Belgians as well as;
for Germans.
34. FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
TABLE I
Feench- and Flemish- Speaking Inhabitants of Belgium
Census of December 31, 1910
Speaking
Provinces Number of French- Flemish- French and
inhabitants speaking speaking Flemish
Antwerp 968,677 12,289 762,414 113,606
Brabant 1,469,677 382,947 603,507 381,997
E. Flanders 1,120,335 9,311 934,143 116,889
W. Flanders 874,135 31,825 669,081 123,938
Hainaut 1,232,867 1,113,738 17,283 49,575
Liege 888,341 748,504 14,726 50,068
Limbourg 275,691 9,123 218,622 29,386
Luxemburg 231,215 183,218 153 1,393
Namur 362,846 342,379 733 4,436
Totals 7,423,784 2,833,334 3,220,662 871,288
TMs table shows French predominance for the entire country.
The arrangement given immediately below brings out this fact
more clearly.
Inhabitants speaking French only 2,833,334
" " French and Flemish 871,288
" " French and German 74,993
" " French, German and Flemish . . 52,547
" German only 31,415
" " German and Flemish 8,652
" Flemish only 3,220,662
*' " None " of the three languages 330,893
7,423,784
' Children under two and foreigners are included under this heading.
CHAPTER III
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY IN ALSACE-
LORRAINE AND SWITZERLAND
With the exception of a few districts in Alsace-Lorraine, the
political boundary betAveen France and Germany is also the
linguistic line between French and German languages. This
condition is a result of the modifications which French fron-
tiers have undergone since the treaty of Utrecht in 1714. Unfor-
tunately the Napoleonic period and its disorderly train of
political disturbances brought about an unnatural extension of
the northern and eastern lines. France departed for a time from
the self-appointed task of attracting French-speaking provinces
to itself. Between 1792 and 1814 almost all of the territory of
Belgium and Holland was annexed and the eastern frontier
extended to the Ehine. Teutonic peoples in Holland, Flanders,
Ehenish Prussia and the western sections of Hesse and Baden
passed under French control. But their subjection to Napoleon's
artificial empire was of relatively short duration. The German-
speaking people in 1813 united in a great effort to drive the
French across the Ehine. They were merely repeating the feat
of their ancestors who, at an interval of eighteen centuries, had
defeated the Latin-speaking invaders of their country led by
Varus. Success in both movements was largely the result of the
feeling of kinship based on language. In 9 a.d. the Eomans were
forced back to the Ehine from the line they occupied on the
Weser. The treaty of Vienna restored French boundaries to the
lines existing in 1790. French territory was once more confined
to the normal boundaries which inclose members of the French-
speaking family. A natural frontier thus became determined for
the country. The union of Frenchmen into a compact political
body was shattered, however, by the treaty of Frankfort in 1871,
35
36 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
when France was obliged to cede the provinces of Alsace and
Lorraine to Germany.
The part to be played by the province of Lorraine in the
history of Franco-German relations was laid out by nature itself.
The province had always been a wide pathway connecting highly
attractive regions of settlement. It lies midway between the fer-
tile plains of the Ehine and the hospitable Paris basin. It is also
placed squarely in the center of the natural route leading from
Flanders to Burgundy. Physically the region was part of
France; its inhabitants have therefore always been Frenchmen,
but the lack of a natural barrier on the east provided a constantly
open door for Teutonic invasion. In particular, the Moselle
valley has always facilitated access into Lorraine. The province
was thus a borderland disputed first by two adjoining peoples
and, subsequently, by two neighboring nations.
As a duchy, Lorraine had attained a state of semi-independ-
ence in the tenth century. It then included the three bishoprics
of Metz, Toul and Verdun. From the eleventh to the eighteenth
century, the house of Lorraine furthermore exerted sovereign
power over Nancy and Luneville. The loosening of the ties of
vassalage which united it to the German Empire grew as cen-
turies passed.
This long period of conflict was necessarily accompanied by
modifications of linguistic boundaries. Glancing back to the end
of the Middle Ages, a slight westerly advance of the area of
German speech may be ascertained for the period between the
tenth and sixteenth centuries.^ From that time on, however,
the regional gain of French has been in excess of previous Ger-
man advances. Toponymic data afford valuable clues to early
distribution of languages in the region. Occurrences of the sufSx
"ange" which is the Frenchified form of the German "ingen,"
in names lying west of the present line, show the extent of
territory reclaimed by the French language.^
' H. Witte : Forsoh. z. dent. Landes- u. Yolkskunde, Vol. 10, 1897, No. 4, pp. 299-
424.
' L. Galloia : Les limites linguistiques du Frangais, Ann. de Qiogr., Vol. 9, 1900,
p. 215.
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 37
The linguistic boundary in Lorraine assumes a general north-
west-southeast direction as it winds onward according to the pre-
dominance of German and French. About 65 per cent of the area
of Lorraine, at present under German rule, contains a French-
speaking majority.^" From Deutsche-Oth, the line crosses the
Moselle south of Diedenhofen and extends towards Bolchen and
Morhange. The entire lake district farther south is in French-
speaking territory. About two miles southwest of Sarrebourg
the line traverses the Saar. The Lorraine boundary is attained
close to the headwaters of the same river. A German enclave
occurring at Metz is the only break in the unity of the area of
the French language. A large frontier garrison and a host of
civilian officials account for the numerical superiority of German
in this provincial capital.
The fluctuations of French in Lorraine since the eleventh
century have been studied with great minuteness by Witte.*
Basing himself on the text of documents examined in the archives
of Strassburg, Metz, Nancy and Bar-le-Duc this scholar succeeded
in plotting the linguistic divide for the years 1000 and 1500. To
these two lines he added the present language boundary as deter-
mined from his own field observations, ffis method consisted in
traveling from village to village, usually on foot, and ascertaining
personally the predominance of French and German in each
locality he visited.
Between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries changes along
this linguistic boundary appear to have been unimportant. The
five intervening centuries are characterized by a slight westerly
advance of German. From the sixteenth century to our time,
however, the easterly spread of French has been considerable.
This change is particularly noticeable in southern Lorraine, as if
to show that the gap between the heights of the Moselle and the
northern Middle Vosges had provided an outlet for the overflow
of the language on German soil.
' p. Langhans : Sprachen Karte von Deutsch-Lothringen, 1 : 2,000,000, Deutsche
Erde, 1909, PI. 3.
* Das deutache Sprachgebiet Lothringen und seine Wandelungen, etc., Forseh. z.
deut. Lcmdes- u. Yolksh., Vol. 8, 1894, pp. 407-535.
38 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Compared with Lorraine, Alsace has the advantage of greater
definiteness as a geographical unit. It is the region of the valley
of the 111 which ends at the wall of the Vosges Mountains on the
west. Its easterly extension attains the banks of the Ehine. This
elongated plain appears throughout history as a corridor through
which races of men marched and countermarched. The Alpine
race provided it with early inhabitants. Barbarians of northern
lineage also swarmed into its fields. Eomans subjugated the land
in the course of imperial colonization. The province subse-
quently passed under Germanic and Frankish sway.
The entry of Alsace into linguistic history may be reckoned
from the year 842, when the celebrated oaths of Strassburg were
exchanged in Romance and Teutonic languages by Louis the
German and Charles the Bald, respectively. This solemn function
was a precautionary measure taken by the two brothers to safe-
guard their territory against the coveting of their senior,
Lothaire, to whom Charlemagne had bequeathed the area which,
for a time, was known as Lotharii Regnum, and which comprised
modern Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence and a portion of
Italy. The main point of interest in the territorial division which
marked the passing of Charlemagne, lies in the fact that the
future division of central Europe into nations of French, German
and Italian speech was outlined at this period. Strassburg, the
chief city of the borderland between areas of French and German
speech, was a bilingual center at this early date. The versions
of the oaths taken on February 18, 842, by the royal brothers, as
handed down by Nithard, Charlemagne's grandson and a con-
temporary historian, show a formative stage in French and Ger-
man. The document has been aptly called the birth certificate
of French. Louis the German spoke the following words in the
lingua romana, which was then the speech of Romanized Gaul:
Pro Deo amur et pro christian poblo et nostro commun
salvament, dist di in avant, in quant Deus savir et podir
me dunat, si salvarai io cist meon fradre Karlo, et in
adjudha, et in cadhuna cosa, si cum om, per dreit, son
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 39
fradre salvar dist, in o quid il mi altresi fazet; et ab
Ludher nul plaid numquam prindrai qui, meon vol, cist
meon fradre Karlo in damno sit."
Charles the Bald used the lingua teudisca as follows:
In Godes minna ind in thes christianes folches ind unser
bedhero gealtnissi, fon thesemo dage franunordes, so fram
so mir Got gewizei indi madh furgibit, so haldih tesan
minan bruodher, soso man mit rehtu sinan bruodher seal,
in thiu, thaz er mig sosoma duo ; indi mit Ludheren in non-
heiniu thing ne gegango the minan willon imo ce scadhen
werhen.
Ever since this event Alsace has occupied the European
historical stage as a bone of contention between German-speaking
peoples and their rivals of French speech. A year had hardly-
elapsed after this exchange of pledges, when the division of the
Frankish Empire between the grandsons of Charles the Great
was formally settled by the treaty of Verdun. Lothaire, the
eldest brother, was awarded Alsace and Lorraine. From this
time on, Alsace became a part of the lands of German speech
which form a compact block in central Europe. In 1469, however,
Sigismund of Austria mortgaged his land holdings in Upper
Alsace to Charles of Burgundy who thereby assumed jurisdiction
over the districts affected by the mortgage. The treaty of St.
Omer which contains the terms of this transaction paved the way
for subsequent French intervention in both Alsace and Lorraine.
Accordingly, a few years later, by the treaty of Nancy (1473),
Charles of Burgundy was recognized by Bene 11 of Lorraine as
the "protector" of Lorraine.
It was only in the seventeenth century, however, that France
' Translation : By the love of God and that of Christian people and of our common
salvation, from this day on, in so far as God shall grant me knowledge and power,
I will support my brother Karl, here present, by every manner of help, as one must,
in duty bound, support one's brother, provided he acts in the same manner with me;
neither will I ever make agreements with Lothaire which, through my own will, shall
prejudice my brother Karl here present.
40 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
obtained a definite foothold in Alsace and Lorraine. In 1648, the
country won by treaty settlement her long contested rights in
Alsace. The treaties of Nimwegen (1679) and Byswick (1697)
confirmed Louis XIV in his possession of the major portion of
Alsace. By that time French influence had acquired a paramount
share in both of the border provinces. Lorraine, however, was
not formally ceded to France until the treaty of Vienna was
signed in 1738. French sovereignty over Alsace was confirmed
again by the treaty of Luneville, in 1801, and by the Congress of
Vienna in 1815, It was to last until 1871. In that year Alsace
and Lorraine became part of the newly constituted German
Empire, the cession being determined by Arts. I to IV of the
treaty of Frankfort.
The preceding paragraphs show that the earliest form of
French and German nationality assumed shape immediately after
the treaty of Verdun and at about the time when the language
spoken in these countries began to present similarity to the forms
used at present. In the partition of Charlemagne's empire only
two of the three divisions were to survive. The western evolved
finally into modern France. The easternmost became Germany.
Lying between the two, Lothringia naturally became the coveted
morsel which crumbled to pieces in the struggle waged for its
possession.
A highway of migration cannot be the abode of a pure race.
Its inhabitants necessarily represent the successive human groups
by which it has been overrun." The Alsatian of the present day
is, accordingly, a product of racial mingling. But the blending
has conferred distinctiveness, and Alsatians, claiming a national-
ity of their own, find valid arguments in racial antecedents no
less than in geographical habitation. The uniform appearance of
the Alsatian region strikes the traveler at every point of the
fertile HI valley, where the soil is colored by a reddish tinge
which contrasts strongly with the greens and grays of surround-
' Anthropologic data for the southwestern section of Alsace are instructive. The
generation of a transition type between the short and sturdy Alpine type and the
" sesquipedal " Teuton is observable. Cf. Eipley: The Races of Europe, New York,
1899, pp. 225-226.
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 4j1
ing regions. By race also the Alsatian represents a distinct group
in which, the basal Alpine strain has been permeated by strong
admixtures of Nordic blood. The confusion of dark and fair
types represent the two elements in the population. In
a broader sense the Alsatians are identical with the Swiss
population to the south and the Lorrains and Walloons to
the north — ^in fact, they are related to the peoples of all the
districts which once constituted the Middle Kingdom of Bur-
gundy.
Although sharply defined by nature, Alsace never acquired
independence. Its situation between the areas peopled by two
powerful continental races was fatal to such a development. But
the influence of its physical setting always prevailed, for, despite
its political union with Frenchmen or Germans, the region has
always been recognized as an administrative unit defined by the
surface features which mark it off from surrounding regions.
The influence of topographic agencies has even been felt within
the province. The separation of Lower from Higher Alsace
originated in a natural boundary, formed by a marshy and forest-
clad zone extending from the Tannchal and Hohkonigsberg moun-
taias to the point of nearest convergence between the Ehine and
the Vosges. This inhospitable tract first separated the two Celtic
tribes known as the Sequani and the Mediomatrici. Later, it
afforded a convenient demarcation for the Eoman provinces of
Maxima Sequanorum and Tractus Mediomatricorum. The two
archbishoprics of Besangon and Mayence, both of Middle-Age
fame, were similarly divided. The coins of Basel and of Strass-
burg point to the subsistence of this line during the Renaissance,
when two distinct territories of economic importance extended
over the region. In the administrative France of modern days,
the departments of Bas-Ehin and Haut-Ehin again reveal adher-
ence to the dividing line provided originally by nature. Finally
after the German annexation of 1871 the "districts" constituted
under German authority, with Colmar and Strassburg as their
chief towns, conformed once more with the historical line of
division.
42 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The Vosges ' uplift has been until recent times the means of
barring intercourse between the plains facing its eastern and
western slope. The chain has prevented communication on
account of the height of its passes, its thickly forested slopes and
the sterility of its soil. The influence of these mountains on
European history deserves contrast with that of the Alps where
nature's provision of passes and defiles has at all times facilitated
land travel in and out of the Italian peninsula. Primitive wan-
dering tribes found but scant inducement to settle in the moun-
tainous area of the Vosges. Pastoral Celts settled in its
environing plains long before they attempted to occupy the rocky
mass itself. The Teutonic tribes which followed the Celts like-
wise found little to attract them to the Vosges, and generally
migrated southward around its northern and southern extremity,
the former route being that of the Franks while the Goths,
Burgundians and Alemanni invaded France through the Belfort
gap.
Alsace was a province of German speech throughout the
Middle Ages as well as after Louis XIV 's conquest of the land.
French took a solid foothold mainly after the revolution and
during the nineteenth century. An enlightened policy of tolerance
towards Alsatian institutions cemented strong ties of friendship
between the inhabitants and their French rulers. Alsatian lean-
ings towards France were regarded with suspicion by the victors
of 1870, who proceeded to pass prohibitory laws regarding the
use of French in primary schools, churches and law courts. These
measures of Germanization were attended by a notable emigra-
tion to France. In 1871 there were 1,517,494 inhabitants in
Alsace-Lorraine. The number had decreased to 1,499,020 in 1875
in spite of 52.12 per cent excess of births over deaths.
Nancy, by its situation, was destined to welcome Alsatians
who had decided to remain faithful to France. The number of
immigrants to this city after the Franco-Prussian war was esti-
' The name has been traced to the generic meaning of forest through its con-
sonants v-8-g, which are convertible into b-s-k, the latter corresponding to bosquet,
busch, bush, etc. Cf. J. C. Gerock: Die Benennung und Gliederung des linksrheiniachen
Gebirges, M. Philomath. Ges. Elsass-Loth., Vol. 4, 1910, pp. 251-274.
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 43
mated at 15,000." Pressing need of workingmen in the city's
growing industrial plants intensified this movement. Alsatian
dialects were the only languages heard in entire sections of the
urban area. Peopled by about 50,000 inhabitants in 1866,
Nancy's population jumped to 66,303 in 1876. Metz, on the other
hand, with a population of 54,820 inhabitants in 1866, could not
boast of more than 45,675 in 1875. The census taken in 1910
raised this figure to 68,598 by the addition of the garrison main-
tained at this point. Altogether it was estimated that, in 1910,
French was spoken by 204,262 inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine, out
of a total population of 1,814,564."
The present line of linguistic demarcation in Alsace-Lorraine
rarely coincides with the political boundary. Conformity between
the two lines is observable only in stretches of their southern-
most extension. East and southeast of Belfort, however, two
weU-defined areas of French speech spread into German territory
at Courtavon and Montreux. In the elevated southern section of
the Vosges, the line 'runs from peak to peak with a general tend-
ency to sway east of the crest line and to reveal conspicuous
deflections in certain high valleys of the eastern slope. Its
irregularity with respect to topography may be regarded as an
indication of the fluctuations of protohistoric colonization.
From Baren Kopf to about 10 miles beyond Schlucht Pass,
the mountainous divide and the linguistic line coincide. Farther
north, however, French prevails in many of the upper valleys of
the Alsatian slope. This is true of the higher sections of the
Weiss basin, as well as of the upper reaches of the Bruche. At
a short distance south of the sources of the Liepvre, parts of the
valley of Markirch (Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines) are likewise French.
Here, however, the influx of German miners, who founded settle-
ments as far back as the seventeenth century, converted the
district into an area linguistically reclaimed by Germans.
The linguistic boundary in the valley of the Bruche corre-
' R. Blanchard: Deux grandes villes francaises, La Qiogr., Vol. 30, No3. 2-6,
1914, pp. 120-121.
• The Statesman's Yearbook, 1915, p. 972.
44 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
spends to the dividing line between houses of the Frank- Alemannic
style and those of the purely Alemannic.^" Villages of the Frank-
Lorrainer style, in which narrow facades, flat roofs and close
lining-up of houses are observable, belong to the period of French
influence which followed the Thirty Years' war and should not
be confused with the former types. In Lorraine the houses are
built with their longest sides parallel to the street. The entrance
leads into the kitchen ; rooms occupy the left wing of the building,
the right providing stable space. In some respects this structure
recalls the Saxon houses met east of the Elbe valley. The char-
acteristic feature of the Lorraine dwelling, however, is found in
the construction of the entrance on the long side, whereas in the
German type of house it lies under a gable on the short side. As
a rule the Alemannic type of house prevails in the mountainous
sections and attains the valleys of the Meurthe. In the Vosges,
Black Forest and Swabia these dwellings are distinguishable by
their characteristic inclusion of all outhouses and barns under a
single roof. In the densely peopled valley of the Bruche the
most important settlements rest on the alluvial terraces of its
affluents. In the upper valley the villages are scattered on rocky
amphitheaters, and here the Celtic type of settlement is oftener
met.
Witte's studies show that, in Alsace,^^ the delimitation of the
Germanic and Romanic domain is somewhat more complicated
than in. Lorraine. Valuable clues are generally afforded by
toponymic data. The Alemanni are responsible for the suffix
"heim." Towns and villages with names bearing this suffix are
restricted to the plain. The dividing line extends on the west to
the sub-Vosgian foreland and attains the forest of the Haguenau
on the north. This last section corresponds to the beginning of
an area of Frankish colonization having its center at Weissen-
burg. The sufiix "ingen," which occurs in place names of
southern Alsace, is likewise Alemannic. It is supposed to corre-
'° J. B. Masson: Bie Siedeluugen des Breuschtals Elsass, Monatschrift Oesch. u.
Volksk., 1910, pp. 350-373 and 479-498.
'^ Zur Gesehichte des Deutschtums in Elsass und im Vogesengebiet, Forsch. m. dent.
Landes- u. Volksk., Vol. 10, No. 4, 1897.
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 45
spond, however, to a later period of settlement. The ending
"weiler" accompanies the names of villages found on the heights.
These data led Witte to assume that the Celto-Roman natives
of the plains were thrust back towards the mountains by the
Alemannic invasion proceeding from the east. The designation
"weiler," which is also spelled "weyer," "weyr" and "wir,"
indicates the mountain sites to which the population of the plain
was repelled by the Germanic flow. The Vosges mountains have
thus been a place of refuge against Grermanic aggression. Witte 's
researches point to the probable peopling of the Alsatian slopes
of the Vosges by tribes speaking a Eomanic language during the
invasions of Teutonic barbarians. The so-called Welsh element
appears to be a Celto-Eoman remnant of the population of the
locality.^'^
The character of Alsace-Lorraine as a connecting region
between two great European nations is shown also by demo-
graphic studies.^^ Life in the provinces is accompanied by condi-
tions which prevail in Germany or France. The excess of births
over deaths, which maintains itself on an average at about 10 per
1,000, is lower than in any other part of the German Empire.
The rate of birth has decreased from 36 to 28 per 1,000 in spite
of an increase in the population. The tendency of the inhabitants
to emigrate is evinced by the large number of uninhabited houses.
The decrease in the native population is largely due to the desire
of many of the inhabitants to emigrate to French soil. In 1875
the proportion of native-bom inhabitants amounted to 93 per
cent of the total population. In 1905 it did not exceed 81 per
cent. The strictly German element had grown from 38,000 in
1875 to 176,000 in 1905. Fully 90 per cent of these are native-
born Prussians. Among them the teaching of French to children
has increased. Molsheim, in Lower Alsace, and Ribeauville, in
Upper Alsace, are centers for the study of French. In recent
" H. Witte : Eomanische Bevolkerungsrtiekstande in deutschen Vogesentalern,
Deutsche Erde, Vol. 6, 1907, pp. 8-14, 49-54, 87-91.
*' DuMont Schanberg: Die Bevolkerung EIsass-Lothringen nach den Ergebnissen
der Volksziihlung vom 1 Dezember 1905 an der Fruheren Zahlungen. Btat. M. ilher
EIsass-Lothringen, Vol. 31, Stat. Bur. f. EIsass-Lothringen, Strassburg, 1908.
46 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
years German immigrants have become the preponderant element
of the province.
Two methods of indicating the presence of a French element
in Alsace-Lorraine are given in the accompanying map (PI. II)
of this region. The method of showing percentages according to
administrative districts " has been contrasted with the plan of
representing the actual extension of French predominance.^^ In
one respect the map is illuminating. It shows the concordance of
French and German authorities regarding the German character
of the language spoken in Alsace, as well as the French nature
of a substantial portion of Lorraine. The Ehine valley, a natural
region, appears throughout as an area of German speech. The
startling preference of Alsatians for French nationality cannot
therefore be substantiated by geographical evidence. It suggests
the persistent influence of the human will swayed by feelings of
justice and moral affinity rather than by material considerations.
To primitive societies, a river as large as the Ehine pro-
vided almost as impassable a frontier as the sea itself. It had
the advantage of being defined by nature. The boundary was
actually marked on the ground. As frontiers of the Eoman
Empire, the Ehine and the Danube proved their practical value
by the long period during which they marked the extent of
imperial or republican domain. The history of oversea coloniza-
tion indicates the partiality of colonial powers for rivers as
boundaries. It is likely that in the very early period of man's
habitation of the earth, the tribes settled on either side of water-
courses had little or no intercourse. As they advanced in civili-
zation relations were developed. The divisive influence of running
waters was therefore exerted most strongly at the dawn of
human history. Later the river may become a link and finally
may attain the stage when it is a rallying line for the activity and
thought of the inhabitants of its entire valley.
The Gallo-Teutonic line of the Ehine was the scene of many
" After the language map of Alsace-Lorraine in AndrSe's Handatlas, pp. 67-68,
eth ed.
"After Gallois' mapj Ann. de Giogr., Vol. 9, 1900, PI. 4.
The American Geographical
Society of New Yorl^
Frontiers of Language and
Nationality in Europe, 1917,
Pi If
schf^ffT-
24 J^K
8
OrMogei
46
Uiedenliofen-t^
'iTZ-21(
-N
J'
I
§AMiBRUCK
v'orbacji-
Sablon ■'ff^
^
V
^>
■■St.Avo/'4.f
J
LA
X-
~iChateau\ialins -V
«~-y
^
V
(■^^
vw.
k
T
•^c^:^
'-AS
,/ Zi3>ern-Z
■ Weissenhvirfi-O . ^X_
:4?
0.2
■Jlagenau- J
v BischweifiBr-S r+V
D
Sramaih - 1
0.4
24
\ ScMti^ieim- 1 i
Molshevn f3~~-L^
\lUJri7vh\°1)
y^.
THE FRANCO -GERMM
LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY
IN ALSACE-LORRAINE
from available sources
Scale: 1;1,125,000
or 1 inch=17-V4 mWes,
Pop-u.1 a-tion.:
■ FrencTi predominance
a from. Z.1 f.o ,^0 % French speaJfir)^
G „ W to :!Jj °/o
O „ 5 to to % „
D „ O to S % „
4 % Frew^h speaking inhab. ofcit/eg
2 % .. ,. „ „ districts
BASLE over lOOOOO iniialj.
METZ from oO.OOO to 100 000 ifdtab
Colin ax „ Z5.000 to so 000
BajT „ 10.000 to z.?ooo
Tfiann less t/ian lOOOO _j,
I I Prcnrf, R'-~\\^ Expansion of/'rench
I I '^^'"^" \i^.<::^ .since tfie.m»'cent>jrt/
I I „ 77/77Z\ Expansion ofOermnn
since ttu: XVI 'I' century
Ungaistic bound/iry _ _ _ political boundaries
.provincialbonnilwiei distrii^ ,,
o
Ob.Ehnheim -'Z
=»-x\:v
Barf'
^
Ersteini- 1
0.6
\-2
Fort..
bSlfort
Gebweiler-Z
<
MDH
,/-
f • ./ttpntmux I
\^S Altklh
FREmVRG
yhr^
■ '•foartat'orP
^JBASLE^
k'^"%^.y^-
RUl^^
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 47
a struggle during the reign of Clovis. In the days of Charle-
magne the dwellers on the right bank of the Rhine were the "gens
atroces et feroces" of French chroniclers. They represented
northern barbarians, the foes of Christianity and of the civiliza-
tion which Eome had given to the world. Before becoming a
German river the Ehine flowed in a valley peopled by inhabitants
of Celtic speech. The name it bears is of Celtic origin. When
men of Teutonic speech began to press westward, the river sup-
plied a natural moat which, for a long period, had formed part
of the system of defense devised by the earlier inhabitants of the
land. The strength of the position is attested by the slowness of
Germanic infiltration on the left bank of the river. To this day
the valley province owes more to France in thought and ideals
than to any other country. The Alsatian temperament has much
of that mental sunshine which Mirabeau calls the "fond gaillard."
This is assuredly not derived from Germany. His wit is of the
true Gallic type — smocking, and tending to the Eabelaisian; its
geniality is reserved for France and French institutions, its
caustic side for Germany and Germans. It could never have pro-
ceeded from the ponderous Teutonic mentality. Alsatians are
French in spirit because they know how to laugh well, to laugh
as civilized men with the cheer that brightens the good and the
irony that draws out in full relief the ugliness of evil.
The spread of the French language in Alsace after the con-
quest of Strassburg by the soldiers of Louis XIV was slow. The
French governors of the province never compelled the Alsatians
to study their language. Up to the time of the French Revolution,
French served as the medium of intercourse in official circles and
among the nobility. The mass of the people, however, retained
their vernacular. Freedom, granted by the French civil admin-
istration, was equally maintained by the official representatives
of French ecclesiastical authority. Religious tolerance in Alsace
was felt notably at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes, the province being probably the only one in which Prot-
estant Frenchmen were unmolested. Moral ties with France were
thus cemented by the extremely liberal character of French rule.
48 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The Frencli Revolution was entlmsiastically welcomed by the
democratically inclined Alsatians. This event in fact consolidated
Alsace's union with France. French military annals of the period
contain a high proportion of Alsatian names. A community of
ideas and interests had come into being. The study of French
was taken up with renewed enthusiasm in Alsace because the
language was the agency by which the new spirit of the time was
propagated. It became the medium of communication among
thinkers. The revolution of 1848 accentuated this tendency.. By
that time every Alsatian who could boast of any schooling knew
French. This linguistic conquest of Alsace was the result of
sympathy with French thought and ideals.
The German method of imposing the rival tongue was dis-
tinctly different. All the brutality which attends misconceptions
of efi&ciency among petty ofSeials was given free rein in the
process of replacing French by German. A stroke of the pen on
April 14, 1871, suppressed teaching of French in the primary
schools of the annexed territory. In other educational establish-
ments the study of the language was relegated to the position of
minor courses. It is worth mentioning that Alsace and Lorraine
are the only territorial units of the German Empire in which the
study of French has met opposition on the part of the govern-
ment. The interest shown for the Eomanee language elsewhere
in the Kaiser's land contrasts with the efforts made to root it out
of Alsatian soil.
The unrelenting activity of the Prussian officials stationed in
Alsace-Lorraine has borne fruit, for the use of French by the
inhabitants is on the wane. This is partly due, however, to the
emigration of a large number of native-born Alsatians and the
swarm of settlers brought from other sections of Germany. In
one respect the results of the Germanizing propaganda have
differed from expectations. They have tended to foster the devel-
opment of Alsatian dialects as well as the spirit of nationality
among the people. Alsatians preferred to become proficient in
their own tongue rather than in German. At the same time, if
Alsace is to be German, they are united in the desire to see their
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 49
native province form part of the Empire on a footing similar to
that of other German states. They apprehend eventual absorp-
tion by Prussia as much as the prolongation of the present
"Eeichsland" status of their native land.
The European war brought its train of trials to Alsatians no
less than to other European peoples. French papers contain the
complaints of natives of Alsace and Lorraine serving in German
regiments to the effect that their officers exposed them to the
worst dangers of war with undue harshness. It is not unlikely
that at the cessation of hostilities the number of native-born
Alsatians will have dwindled to insignificant proportion. A
plebiscite on the fate of the province, taken then, might help
German designs. But since a revision of the Franco-German
boundary seems inevitable, a preliminary solution might be
foimd in the abrogation of the treaty of Frankfort. The final
settlement of the problem will be equitable only when the desires
of native-born Alsatians shall have been taken into considera-
tion.
Beyond Alsace, French and German languages meet along a
line which extends across western Swiss territory to the Italian
frontier." Its present course has been maintained since the
fifteenth century." Beginning at Charmoille, north of the Bernese
Jura, the linguistic frontier strikes east towards Montsevilier,^*
after which it makes a sharp turn to the southwest as it follows
the strike of the Jura mountains. In this region the historical
division between Teutonic and Latin civilization occurs in the
valley of Delemont through which the Some flows. Teutonic
invaders never succeeded in penetrating beyond the Vorburg
barrier. East of the Jura, the line passes through Bienne, Douane
and Gleresse. At Neuveville the valley is French. The line
follows thence the course of the Thiele. With the exception of its
northeastern shore all Lake Neuchatel is surrounded by French-
" p. Langhana : Die Westschweiz mit deutschen Ortsbenennung, 1 : 500,000, Deutsche
Erde, Vol. 5, 1906, PI. 5.
*'E. Gallois: Les limites linguistiques du Francais, Ann. de GSogr., Vol. 9, 1900,
p. 218.
"P. Clerget: La Siiisse an XX™e si6cle, Paris, 1908, p. 55.
60 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
speaking communities. The parting next coincides with the line
of the Broye river and extends across the waters of lake Morat.
The western and southern shores of the lake are likewise French.
It then skirts the banks of the Sarine until it reaches Fribourg,
which it cuts into two portions. A strenuous struggle for lin-
guistic supremacy is maintained at this urban edge of French-
speaking territory. Inside the city's line, German is spoken
principally in the quarters tenanted by the laboring classes.
With the middle classes both language and tradition are largely
French. !
In the twelfth century Fribourg had been turned into a forti-
fied outpost of German power by the Dukes of Zahringen." The
city's position between the Alps and the Jura favored its selection
for this aggressive purpose. German language flourished under
the shadow of its castles and probably would have taken deeper
root among its citizens but for one fact. At the time of the
Eeformation, the Fribourgers decided to stand with the Eoman
Church. This decision converted the city into a haven to which
the Catholic clergy of French-speaking Switzerland repaired; and
the Bishopric of Lausanne was transferred to Fribourg, where
it became the headquarters of active French propaganda.
It should not be taken for granted from what has been said
that the cause of French in Switzerland is related to Catholicism.
The case of Fribourg is an isolated one. At Bienne, another of
the cities on the linguistic divide, the growth of French has an
entirely different origin. This city is the center of an important
watch-making district. The growth of its native industry favored
rapid increase in its population. But the new citizens were drawn
principally from the mountainous region of which Bienne is the
outlet. The French-speaking highlanders swelled the ranks of the
city's French contingent to such an extent that, from numbering
one-fourth of the population in 1888, it had grown to one-third
in 1900. The German-speaking farmers of the plains surrounding
Bienne, however, were never attracted by the prospect of factory
'"L. Courthion: Le front dea langu£s en Suisse, Mercure de France, Vol. 112, No.
420, Dec. 1, 1915, pp. 636-646.
Fig. 15.
Fig. 10.
YiQ 15 — The sliady arcades and sunny streets of l.nj,'ano in tlie Swiss area of
Italian languages recall the typical aspects of Italian cities.
YiG. 10 — The basin of Lake Geneva is an ancient domain of French language m
Switzerland.
m
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 51
work. At present Bienne's population is believed to be equally
divided between the two tongues.
From Fribourg the line takes a straight course to the Olden-
FiG. 18 — The boundary between French and German in Switzerland. Scale,
1:1,435,000.
horn. Here it elbows eastward to Wildstrubel and attains the
Valais country. In the upper valley of the Ehone, the line
becomes well defined as it coincides with the divide between the
52 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Val d'Anniviers and Turtman Thai. In the Haut Valais the
construction of the Simplon tunnel appears to have affected Ger-
man adversely and to have caused an extension of French speech
in the region. The recession of German from the Morge valley
to the east of Sierre lies within the memory of living natives.
The linguistic line finally cuts across the Khone valley ahove
Sierre and strikes the Dent d 'Kerens on the Italian frontier. In
southeastern Switzerland, French surrounds the uninhabited
massif Mont Blanc. One would naturally expect to find this lan-
guage confined to the western slopes of the uplift only. But the
inhabitants of Bas-Valais districts and of the Aosta valley speak
French as fluently as the population of the elevated valleys of
Savoy.
The prevalence of French has been shown to be due to the
direction of travel in this mountainous region. The two St.
Bernard Passes, the "Col du Grand St. Bernard" and the "Col
du Petit St. Bernard," have determined the route along which
human displacements could be undertaken with a minimum of
effort.^" The road encircles that famous Alpine peak. It has
acted as a channel through which French has flowed into areas of
Italian and German speech. This instance may well be adopted
as a classical example of the influence of geography in the distri-
bution of linguistic areas.
The origin of linguistic differences in Switzerland may be
traced to the dawn of the period that followed Eoman conquest.
At the time of Caesar's invasion of Helvetia, the mountsdnous
land was peopled by men of Celtic speech. Barbarian invasions
put an end to the uniformity of language prevailing in the
country. Romance language survived in the highlands of the
Jura and throughout the western sections of Switzerland. The
Celtic and Latin languages spoken in the first five centuries of
our era gave birth to French. The Burgundian conquerors them-
selves adopted this language at the time of the foundation of the
first kingdom of Burgundy. German, on the other hand, is a relic
of Teutonic invasion of eastern and central Switzerland. In the
^° J. Brunhes: La gfiographie humaine, Paris, 1912, pp. 599-601.
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 63
sixth century, the Alemanni took advantage of the weakening of
the Burgundian Kingdom to spread beyond the Aar and overrun
the attractive lake district. By the eleventh century they had
succeeded in imposing their language on the native populations
of the Fribourg and Valais country. The reunion of the two
states under the reign of Clovis failed to unify the language of
Switzerland. A split occurred again after the partition of
Charlemagne's dominions, followed by another period of joint
political life until the death of Berthold V of Zahringen. After
this event the consolidation of languages became impossible in
Switzerland. The rivalry of the Alemanni and Burgundian
kingdoms was maintained among Swiss populations. In feudal
days, German Switzerland acknowledged the suzerainty of Haps-
burg counts. Eomanic Switzerland, on the other hand, leaned
towards the House of Savoy.
That the area of French speech has receded during our era
cannot be doubted. There was a time when French was spoken
on the left bank of the Aar, from its headwaters to below Berne.
At three different periods of history the German language made
notable strides in Switzerland. Its earliest forward move
occurred between the fifth and ninth centuries. Another advance
took place between the eleventh and the thirteenth. The
language made further progress during the religious struggles of
the Reformation. Each of these periods was followed by partial
regain of lost territory by French language. But the French
gains fell short of the Germanic advances. Since the eighteenth
century very little variation in the line has been recorded. A
slight advance of French in the nineteenth century can be traced.
In the minds of Pan-Germanists a significant proof of the
progress of French is seen in cases of the replacement of the
word "Bahnhof " by "gare" at railroad stations — as for example
along the mountainous tract between Viege and Zermatt. They
also complain of the introduction of French words and expres-
sions in the German spoken by Swiss citizens. To the tourist's
eye the advance of German in the Swiss villages of the Grisons
Alps is indicated by the red-tiled roofs in the midst of gray
54 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
shingled roofs. This is noticeable in the Albula valley where
Eomansh was formerly the only language of the natives. Now
the old Eomansh dwellings with their low roofs, white walls and
narrow windows are disappearing before the wooden houses of
the German settlers.
According to the census of 1910 there were 796,244 inhabitants
of Switzerland who spoke French. This was about one-third of
the country's total population. Of this number, 765,373 were
dwellers in French Switzerland, which comprises the cantons of
Geneva, Vaud, Neuchatel, a portion of the cantons of Valais and
Fribourg and the Bernese Jura. The remainder were scattered
in the German and Italian districts of the Republic. Notable
colonies of French-speaking Swiss in the midst of the area of
German . speech are found at Berne and Basel. In all, three of
the twenty-two cantons are of French speech. Fribourg and
Valais contain French-speaking majorities.^^ The canton of Tessin
with its 140,000 inhabitants is Italian in language. In Berne the
majority of the city's population speak German, only 120,000
inhabitants out of a total of 600,000 using French.
The history of Switzerland shows that at bottom neither
language nor physical or racial barriers suffice to constitute
nationality. Human desire to achieve and maintain national inde-
pendence, or to establish liberal institutions, depends on will or
purpose far more than on physical facts. Diversity of language
never impaired Switzerland's existence as a sovereign nation.
Eacial heterogeneity in its population likewise failed to weaken
national feeling. Over such natural drawbacks the indomitable
determination of free-born Helvetians to maintain their country's
sovereignty has prevailed. Frenchmen and Germans have always-
been warring elements in Switzerland, but animosity bred by
racial differences invariably disappeared in matters where
national existence was at stake. A bond of patriotism based on
common religious and democratic ideals proved strong enough to
overcome divergencies due to natural causes.
'* The French-speaking population of the Valais is estimated at 70 per cent of
the inhabitants of the canton.
H
a,
a.
5o
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY 55
The Swiss Confederation originally consisted of the three
German-speaking cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden,"
clustering round Lake Lucerne, in the very heart of the mountain
state. The desire to rid their land of Hapsburg tyranny had
drawn together the inhabitants of this region as early as in 1291.
In the ensuing twenty-five years, these mountaineers succeeded in
making their democratic ideas dominant in their home districts.
This led to the gradual adherence of adjoining territories. By
the middle of the fourteenth century an "Everlasting League"
had been securely established in this orographic center of the
European continent. At the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, twenty
cantons of the present confederation were finally rounded out.
Of these, fifteen are now predominantly German.
French Switzerland receives a large number of German immi-
grants. In 1900 the number of Germans, both from German
cantons and from the German Empire, was estimated at 164,379.
In 1910 this foreign element had grown to a community of
186,135. The tendency of these newcomers is to become assimi-
lated. Intermarriage and social intercourse favor French influ-
ence. As a rule the second generation of these Germans cannot
speak the paternal vernacular and become lost in the mass of
its French-speaking neighbors. The assimilating power of the
French Swiss is also observable at Delemont and Moutier, in the
Bernese Jura, where the piercing of the Weissenstein has brought
a heavy flow of German immigrants.
The only localities in which German gains were recorded in
the census of 1910 were Porentruy and the northern part of the
canton of Fribourg. A counter advance of French at Bienne
tends to maintain the balance even. This city had 8,700 inhabi-
tants of French speech in 1910, as against 7,820 in 1900. In
Fribourg itself the stronghold of Swiss Germanism is found in
the university. The cultural influence of this institution radiates
far into the mountain villages of Switzerland, but its work is
offset by the campaign carried on in favor of French at the
universities of Geneva, Lausanne and Neuchatel.
"M. L. Poole: Historical Atlas of Modern Europe, Oxford, 1902, PI. 44.
56 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
NOTE ON CELTIC LANGUAGE IN FRANCE AND ITS RELATION TO
ITALIC
A parent language for Celtic and Italic may have flourished at a yet undeter-
mined point in the "Western Alps. Meillet ^^ points to the possibility of a period of
common development of their dialects in view of similarities in the highly ancient
forms of the two groups. In that case, westerly and southerly divergences eventually
led to modern French and Italian. Of the two branches in which Italic dialects are
represented at the dawn of history, namely, Latin-Faliscan and Oscan-Umbrian, the.
former alone survived in noteworthy degree, under the guise of Latin. Oscan-
Umbrian dialects, known by inscriptional remains, gave way before Latin at the
beginning of the Christian era.
Celtic, at that period, had been supplanted by two important derived languages:
Gaelic and Breton, which prevailed for many centuries. Gaulish, the gaulois
language of French writers, was disappearing fast. The ease of Breton deserves
particular mention in the study of the migrations of languages. This form of Celtic
belongs to the British subdivision of its linguistic family. Its persistence in
Armorica is due to immigration from British soil which intensified the preexisting
Celtic character of the mountain speech. The inflow of emigrants to France was
particularly strong during the period of Saxon invasions.
Celtic, the earliest language of Gaul, was spoken by the Celts, whose original
home was in northwestern Europe. The British Isles and continental Europe from
Hanover southward to the Pyrenees and the basin of the Po were colonization areas
of the Celts. The fact that Celtic stands linguistically in the closest relation with
Italic and Germanic may be taken as a proof of its intermediate geographical
position between the two. In the middle of the first pre-Christian millennium the
Teutons' nearest neighbors to the south were the Celts. In 400 B.C. Bohemia was
probably occupied by a Celtic people. This country is the easternmost colony of this
group. In these early periods the Elbe marked the boundary between Teutons and
Celts. About 200 B.C. Teutonic speech first attained the Rhine, having reached the
river from the northeast.
Celtic became Romanized after the Roman conquest in the first century of our
era. The lingua vulgaris used by the soldiers and traders sent to colonize the country
gradually displaced native vernaculars. By the end of the fourth century Celtic as
a language had practically disappeared from the entire country. The new Romance
language had taken such strong root in the land that successful invaders of French
soil were henceforth to adopt it and abandon their native tongue. Thus Visigoths,
Burg^ndians and Franks who invaded Gaul in the fifth century forsook their own
language and employed the speech of the people they had conquered. This was a
result of the superior intellectual qualities of the conquered race. The Franks in
particular, a Teutonic people, established themselves firmly enough in northern
Gallo-Roman territory to confer the name of France to the whole region, although
their endeavors to settle in southern France had been unsuccessful. It required fully
six centuries for the language of the Roman colony of Gaul to become definitely
differentiated from Latin. By the seventh century the idiom spoken in France was
known as Romance or Romanic.
" Introduction a I'etude comparative des langues indo-europ6ennes, Paris, 1915.
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY
57
TABLE I
DlSTEIBUTION OF LANGUAGES IN SWITZERLAND ACCOEDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1910
Canton German French Italian Romansh Others
Aargau 222,571 1,532 6,197 72 389
AppenzeU a/r 56,505 134 1,285 27 68
AppenzeU i/b 14,469 32 97 4 6
Basel City 127,491 3,601 4,021 138 1,062
Basel 72,809 1,124 2,548 27 114
Beme 528,554 104,412 12,247 172 2,198
Fribourg 42,634 94,378 1,911 42 586
Geneva 17,456 120,413 12,641 196 5,058
Glarus 31,733 66 1,306 69 120
Graubiinden 58,465 838 20,963 37,147 2,441
Lneeme 161,083 1,316 4,808 126 365
Neuehatel 17,305 111,597 3,747 50 816
Nidwalden 13,329 31 319 5 6
Obwalden 16,738 66 330 28 23
St. GaU 282,722 1,099 17,584 456 967
Schaffihausen 43,795 379 1,712 18 193
Sehwyz 56,311 258 1,612 64 60
Soleurne 111,373 2,818 2,570 21 179
Tessin 5,829 1,008 147,790 131 457
Thurgau 125,876 593 8,328 89 291
Uri 20,937 80 1,053 56 15
Valais 37,351 80,316 10,412 16 165
Vaud 34,422 264,222 16,694 220 8,194
Zug 26,406 217 1,454 26 71
Ziirieh 472,990 5,714 19,696 634 4,601
Switzerland 2,599,154 796,244 301,325 39,834 28,445
58
FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
TABLE II
Percentage of Languages Spoken in Swiss Cantons'
Canton French
Aargau 0.7
Appenzell a/u 0.2
Appenzell i/r 0.2
Basel City 2,6
Basel 1.5
Berne 16.1
Fribourg 67.6
Geneva 77.3
Glarus 0.2
Graubiinden 0.7
Lucerne 0.8
Neuchatel 83.6
Nidwalden 0.2
Obwalden 0.4
St. Gall 0.4
Schaffhausen 0.8
Schwyz 0.4
Soleurne 2.4
Tessin 0.6
Thurgau 0.4
Uri 0.4
Valais 62.6
Vaud 81.6
Zug 0.8
Ziirieh 1.2
Switzerland 21.1
German
Italian
Romansli
Others
96.4
2.7
0.2
97.4
2.2
0.1
0.1
99.0
0.7
0.1
93.5
3.0
0.1
0.8
95.0
3.3
0.2
81.6
1.9
0.4
30.6
1.4
0.4
11.2
8.1
0.1
3.3
95.3
3.9
0.2
0.4
48.8
17.5
31.0
2.0
96.0
2.9
0.1
0.2
13.0
2.8
0.6
97.3
2.3
0.1
0.1
97.4
1.9
0.2
0.1
93.3
5.8
0.2
0.3
95.0
3.7
0.1
0.4
96.6
2.8
0.1
0.1
95.2
2.2
0.2
3.8
95.2
0.1
0.3
93.1
6.2
0.1
0.2
94.6
4.7
0.2
0.1
29.1
8.1
0.2
10.6
0.1
0.1
2.5
93.7
5.2
0.1
0.2
93.9
3.9
0.1
0.9
69.0
8.0
1.1
0.8
" Graphiaeh-statistischer Atlas der Schweiz, Bureau des eidgen. Departements des
Innern, Berne, 1914, Taf. 7.
CHAPTER IV
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
Italy's early history is molded by the shape of the land and
its natural divisions. In the beginning, each valley was a tribal
seat. The basin of the Po was the home of Celtic-speaking Gauls.
Etruscans, whose early language cannot fit into the Indo-
European group, peopled Tuscany. Greeks settled in southern
Italy in numbers sufficiently large to bestow the name of Magna
Graecia on the districts they occupied. The welding of these
territorial elements into the Eoman state was attended by the
spread of the Latin language within the land. Rome's Latin
eventually reached far beyond peninsular frontiers.
Modern Italian nationality did not, however, acquire concrete
expression before the nineteenth century. For fully two hundred
years prior to that time the Hapsburgs had steadily encroached
on Italian territory. It remained for the democratic ideals of the
French Revolution to become the moving force in the shaping of
Italian nationality. Unity of language favored its rapid develop-
ment. Beginning with Piedmont in the first half of the nineteenth
century Italy grew to its present extent by the addition of terri-
tory to the south. Lombardy was added in 1859, Tuscany and
the kingdom of Two Sicilies in 1860, Venetia in 1866 and the
Papal States in 1870. Prior to these years Italian national
aspirations had found solace in a Venetian saying, expressive of
Austrian covetings, "Carta tua, montagna mia," which may be
rendered as "Yours is the map, but mine the land." Since then,
a people speaking the same language has become united into a
single nation on the Italian peninsula. The land frontier of Italy,
however, has remained to this day a zone of linguistic mingling.
Districts of non-Italian languages are occupied by populations
made up of descendants of immigrants from beyond the Alps or
59
60 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
from beyond the seas. Six foreign linguistic groups can be dis-
tinguished, to wit: (1) Franco-Provengal, (2) German, (3)
Slovene, (4) Albanian, (5) Greek, (6) Catalan.' The political
significance to be attached to these settlements is slight, as tlicy
contain a negligible proportion of the kingdom's population. The
foreign languages are used only in the home. Beyond the
threshold Italian prevails everywhere.
Franco-Provengal dialects are in current use among the
dwellers of the Stura, Oreo and Doire Baltee valleys. In the
province (circondario) of Aosta the foreign language was current
in over 70 villages (communi) at the time of the census of 1901.
The province of Pignerol boasted of the two communi of Praly
and San Martino di Perrero in which the same French dialects
prevailed. The names of the communi of Beaulard, Bousson,
Champlas du Col, Clavieres, Fenils, MoUieres, RochemoUes, Sal-
bertrand, Sauze d'OuLx, Solomiac and Thures, all in the circon-
dario of Suse, likewise indicate the presence of French-speaking
inhabitants. It was computed that the language was used in the
daily life of 18,958 families out of the 30,401 recorded in the
census of that year. The average number of individuals to a
family being 4.22 in those districts, it follows that about 80,000
subjects of the king of Italy speak a French dialect. In 1862,
French was spoken by 76,736 inhabitants of the valley of Aosta.
The importance of the language has hardly changed since then,
as it has remained the medium of church, school and general
culture. Nevertheless the use of French dialects is on the wane
in the circondarii of Pignerol and Suse since the reconstitution
of Italy.
Planted between France and Italy, Piedmont became a con-
necting province in which the transition from one country to the
other can be followed. Its role is analogous to that of Alsace-
Lorraine on the confines of the French and the German languages.
French taste and mode of living prevail in many sections of
Piedmont. Turin strikes travelers proceeding from southern
■ Colonie straniere nel territorio politico. La Geogr., Vol. 3, 1915, May-June,
pp. 222-224.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
61
Italy as being in many respects a city of French customs. The
French spoken in Italy also represents a transition speech
between the langue d'oil and the langne d'oc. It has close analogy
with the patois spoken in French Switzerland, the Danphine, the
Lyonnais and the valley of Aosta. All these regions once formed
part of the kingdom of Burgundy.
The French vernacular of thousands of Piedmontese is fur-
FiG. 21 — Map showing some of the important localities of French speech in
Northwestern Italy.
thermore related to the cause of Protestantism, which has taken
solid root in this mountain land in spite of the persecutions to
which it had been formerly subjected. As used by the natives of
the region the local dialect consists, more properly, of a modern
form of an old langue d'oc dialect similar to the patois of various
districts in the French High Alps. To the Protestant inhabitants
of these mountain communities French has served as the only
medium of intercourse with their co-religionists in Switzerland
and France.
The little village of Torre Pellice, on a small mountain railway
62 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
leading into one of the main valleys of Piedmont, offers the
strange contrast of being peopled by inhabitants whose language
is French, while their customs are Italian, and their religion
Protestant. The austerity of their manners recalls at first
impression the natural gravity of mind observable among French-
speaking Swiss who belong to the same faith. Ampler acquaint-
ance with the simple mountaineers will draw out their pride of
being descendants of Protestants whose religious views antedate
Luther's preaching by fully three centuries.
History and geography have concurred in the preservation of
religious and linguistic individuality in the three Valdese valleys.
Their inhabitants are sons of twelfth and thirteenth century
heretics known by the names of Albigenses, Lollards, Cathars or
Vaudois, against all of whom the persecution of the Eoman
church was directed. Massacres and forced conversions uprooted
heresies everywhere in Europe except in the high valleys of
Piedmont. Here the arduous character of the region afforded
defense against the organized bands sent to conquer early
adherents of reformed doctrines. The narrow gorges became the
theater of bloody affrays in which victory would sometimes favor
the attacking foreigners and sometimes the besieged. No definite
conquest of the mountain zone was ever made by the Catholic
armies. The surname of Israel of the Alps, bestowed locally on
the village of Torre Pellice, is a memorial of this period of
religious struggle.
An episode in this long contest, which is not unrelated to the
current prevalence of French, took place in 1630. The operations
of the army sent by Richelieu in that year were followed by an
epidemic of plague to which thousands of natives succumbed.
Many of the community's religious leaders were carried off by
the dread disease. Their places were taken by pastors and
preachers who came from Geneva or the Protestant towns of
France. From this period on religious services were carried on
in French. The influence of the language spread beyond the
rough mountain sanctuaries to which it was at first confined. In
such retired valleys cultural influences generally emanate from
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 63
the church, a fact observable particularly in the mountainous
portions of Asia. Today along with the memory of former strug-
gles the language, which was partly a result of their bitterness,
has survived. To the highlander of western Piedmont, French
is the symbol of successful resistance against religious oppres-
sion. He clings to it and will not tolerate Italian in its place.
His mountain villages are in fact the nursery of hundreds of
teachers of French employed in Italian schools.
The Franco-Italian linguistic boundary starts at Monte Eosa
and extends south, past Gressoney, into the valley of the Doire
Baltee, to the town of Settimo Vitone. French has always pre-
dominated in this region. It is at present the vernacular of the
well-to-do inhabitants and is taught in schools concurrently with
Italian. Thence to the west the linguistic boundary passes south
of Grand Paradis Peak and attains the political boundary at the
sources of the Oreo river. Linguistic and political boundaries
coincide in the next 27 miles, the line passing through a moun-
tainous and scantily settled region.
North of Suse, linguistic and political lines diverge from each
other. The former crosses the Doire Ripaire at about five miles
east of the town. It then extends in a southerly direction to
Perouse on the Ghison river and traverses the Pellice where the
river leaves the highland. The Po is attained near Monte Viso
and the political frontier. From the latter peak the line reaches
Sampeyre, beyond which it crosses the Stura at Vinadio. The
Franco-Italian boundary is reached once more at a few miles
east of Lantosque. From here on to the sea Italian speech
invades French territory.
The structure of the Alps has contributed powerfully to the
peopling of a part of the basin of the Po by a Celtic-speaking
race. In Turin the name of the Taurins, a Celto-Ligurian tribe,
has been preserved to this day. Alpine valleys converge towards
the east and diverge towards the west. Human migrations have,
therefore, been more intense from west to east than in the oppo-
site direction. Western Piedmont thus passed under French
influence after the Middle Ages. At that time the counts of
64 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Savoy obtained possession of the country around Suse and Turin,
Later they added all of Piedmont to their domain. The upper
valley of the Doire Eipaire was part of the French kingdom until
the treaty of Utrecht in 1715,
From the Mediterranean northward, the last section of the
Franco-Italian linguistic boundary traverses French soil and
coincides roughly with the crest of the eastern watershed of the
Var. This region is known administratively as the Departement
des Alpes-Maritimes. Linguistic unity within its boundaries has
been determined mainly by the relief of the land.^ Practically
every one of the high Alpine valleys debouches into the Var.
Connection between the sea and the mountain districts is obtained
through the channels of this basin. Intercourse among the inhabi-
tants of the departement has thus been reflected towards France
rather than Italy. The langue d'oc prevails in the entire Var
system, but Genoese dialects of Italy, or the "si" languages,,
appear immediately to the west. The linguistic divide can, there-
fore, be located between the valley of the Var on the one side and'
those of the Eoya and Bevera on the other. It should be made to
pass, according to Funel,* at the very point in La Turbie where
Augustus, a Eoman emperor, erected a monument to mark the
boundary between his domain and Gaul. The inhabitants of the
eastern section of this line appear, however, to be content with
French nationality in spite of their Ligurian dialects. At the
time of the rectification of this frontier in 1860, their French
leanings were proclaimed in a referendum which set forth their
desire to acquire citizenship under the French tricolor.
The city of Alghero and its environs in the island of Sardinia
contain a colony of Catalonians whose language is identical with
the vernacular in use on the Balearic islands. This group con-
sists of 9,800 individuals out of a total of 10,741 inhabitants of
the commune of Alghero. In 1862 this small community com-
prised 7,036 individuals. This rooting of a Spanish dialect on an
' L. Funel : Les parlers populaires du Departement des Alpes-Maritimes, Bull^
Oiogr. Hist, et Descrip., 1897, No. 2, pp. 298-303.
' Op. cit.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
65
Scs/e of miles
20 30 40
/
®
/ S V. . 1
SGANTON VAUD
Fig. 22 — The dotted line indicates the divide between the areas of French and
Italian language. Black dots near the Swiss border show Italian villages where
German is the vernacular of the natives.
C6 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Italian island is traced to the year 1354 when the Aragonians
conquered Sardinia. The long period of Spanish rule over the
island accounts for the survival of the language to this day.
The southern boundary of German speech abuts against Italian
from Switzerland * to the Carinthian hills." The intrusion of the
Romanic tongue within the Austrian political line lacks homo-
geneity, however, for it is Italian proper in western Tyrol and
Ladin in its western extension. But of the 400 odd miles of
boundary between Austria and Italy a bare 60 will coincide with
the linguistic divide between German and Italian. Moreover a
number of enclaves of German speech exist within the area of
Italian language spreading over Austrian territory. Some of
these German settlements are found near Pergine and Fersina.
Close to the Italian frontier, the town of Casotto in the Lavarone
region is likewise peopled by German-speaking inhabitants.*
German is the vernacular of two small districts within Italian
boundaries which adjoin the Swiss frontier and lie in the Alpine
valleys of Piedmont. The most important of the two is situated
south of Monte Eosa. It comprises the three adjacent valleys
of Gressoney, Sesia and Macugnaga. The other is found in the
Val Formazza or upper valley of the Toce. Both of these groups
are extensions of the area of German speech which spreads over
the eastern portion of the canton of Valais. This section of
Switzerland was swamped between the ninth and sixteenth cen-
* Blocher u. Garratix: Die deut. Ortsnamenformen in Westschweiz, Deutsche Erde,
Vol. 5, 1906, p. 170.
" The Italian population of Austria-Hungary is estimated at 768,422 according
to the Austrian census of 1910. Italian computations set the total number of Italians
living in Austria at 837,000, distributed as follows (Boll. Real. Soc. Qeogr., Aug. 1,
1915, p. 897) :
Upper Adige Valley 25,000
Trentino 373,000
Triest 142,000
Austrian Friuliland 93,000
Istria 148,000 .
Dalmatia 30,000
Fiume 26,000
Total 837,000
' G. de Lucchi: Trentino e Tirolo, Boll. 16, Minist. Aff. Esteri, Eome, 1915, p. 70.
Fjg. 23 — The rearlaiid (it Nice as lypificd liy (his \ic\v of the Alcditcrraneaii Alps
contains numerous ljilinf,'ual settlements. 'J'lie bridge in the pholograiih is the Pont
du l.oup.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 67
turies by a flood of Teutonic invaders consisting mainly of
Alemannic tribes ' proceeding from the Bernese Oberland. All of
the upper Valais, from Miinster as far as Loeche and Zermatt,
became Germanized during that period. The easterly spread of
this movement led a number of German-speaking colonists to
cross Gries Pass into the Formazza valley, while others went
through the passes of Monte Moro and Monte Theodule to the
upper valleys of Piedmont. According to historical documents
the German settlers reached the shores of Lake Maggiore. But
their language became lost in the midst of Italian speech and
held its own only in the valleys already mentioned.
The Piedmontese group of German dialects occurs in small
settlements distributed on the southern slopes of Monte Eosa.
The most noteworthy localities of Teutonic speech are Gressoney,
Saint Jean, Gressoney-La Trinite and Issime. Dialects belonging
to the same group occur in the Alagna and Eima S. Giuseppe
villages, in Valsesia as well as in the Agaro, Formazza, Macugnaga
and Salecchio localities of the Ossola valley. Altogether
these settlements contain about 5,000 German-speaking inhabi-
tants. Occupation of the region by Germans dates from the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries when emigration into upper
Valais took place. The language once extended as far south as
the Ornavasso. Its progress during the past half century has
been insignificant.
Val Formazza comprises the entire upper valley of the Toce,
north of Foppiano. The region is locally known as Val d'Anti-
gorio in its southern stretch. To the north, from Domodossola
onward, it acquires the name of Val d 'Ossola. It has seven
settlements scattered along the banks of the river and contains a
population of about 800 inhabitants engaged chiefly in cattle-
raising. La Chiesa is its most important village. The region is
noted in the list of scenic spots of northern Italy on account of
the Toce falls, which attract a large number of tourists. The dual
character of its human institutions is reflected in the names of
' A. Dauzat : Les values italiennes de langue allemande, A Travers le Monde,
1913, Sept. 6, pp. 285-286.
68 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
its villages, wMch are both Italian and German. Foppiano is also
known as Unterwald; La Chiesa as Andermatten; San Michele as
Pormnat; Canza as Fruttwald. German names are gradually
being dropped, however, concurrently with the steady replace-
ment of the Teutonic language by Italian.
All these valleys are bridges which connect the areas of
Italian and German. Travelers are struck by the transitional
character of every human manifestation within their boundaries.
As one proceeds northwards from the main Italian area, the type
of stone habitation characteristic of Italian villages gives way to
the wooden house of German villages. Examples of both styles
are in evidence throughout the settlements of German speech on
Italian soil. The native costume of the women also recalls the
intermediary character of the region. Black skirts as weU as
high and tight waists, of the same color, are characteristic of the
canton of Valais. The headdress — an ample foulard of black
interspersed with green and red — ^worn close, is of unmistakable
Italian origin. The style in which middle-aged native women
comb their hair is also Italian. They part it into a number of
small plaits held together by metaUio combs after a fashion seen
among elderly dames in Lombardy.
The eastern borderland of Italian language contains German-
speaking inhabitants in the provinces of Verona, Vicenza, Belluno
and Udine, who are living witnesses of the early German settle-
ments founded as trading posts on the way to the Adriatic coast.
Bavaria provided many of these emigrants in the beginning of
the thirteenth century. The language spoken by their descend-
ants is known locally as Cimbro. It has practically disappeared
from the Veronese district, where its survival is traced in the
forested areas of the "commune" of Progno through some 50
inhabitants. The inhabitants of the communes of Sappada and
Sauris and of the Timau district in the Paluzza commune also
employ German. It is estimated that 1,170 families, representing
about 5,500 inhabitants, speak Teutonic dialects in these Venetian
districts of Italy.
South of the Dolomite Alps the tableland of the Sette Com-
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
69
muni is also inhabited by German-speaking subjects of the king
of Italy. Teutonic dialects have survived in seven villages scat-
tered in the adjoining valleys of the Upper Astico and the middle
Brenta. These communities formed the regency of the Sette
Communi, which from 1259 to 1807 was an independent state.
Kotzo, the westernmost and oldest, has a splendid location in the
wooded area at the outlet of Val Martello. In Eoana to the east
Fig. 25 — The localities of German speecli in the Sette Communi districts of
Italy are underlined. The broken line indicates the Austro-Italian frontier.
over five hundred families still employ the German dialect as
their vernacular. At Asiago, however, the German element has
almost disappeared, although during the Middle Ages the town
was an important center of Teutonism, as is testified by the his-
torical collections deposited in its museums. Gallio is known in
history as a trading center of local magnitude. Enego, the last
settlement towards the east, was founded before its Teutoniza-
tion, for it was a Eoman colony. San Giacomo di Lusiana is the
only settlement of German speech beyond the plateau borders.
Its situation on the southern slope brought it within the sphere
70 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of Venetian influence to a degree never felt by its sister com-
munities.
Past the Italian frontier, traveling towards Trent, every town
and village of the valley of the Adige bears an Italian name and
is peopled by Italians. Ala, Mori, Eovereto and Galliano are
types of these Italian communities within Austrian territory.
These small towns, scattered along the banks of the river which
brought life to the region, are peopled mainly by farmers. The
valley in which they are found has played an important part in
Italian history. In ancient times barbarian invaders marched to
the conquest of the peninsula through its conveniently situated
gap. During three centuries the armor-clad troops sent by Ger-
man emperors to crush revolts in Cisalpine cities crossed the
Alps at the Brenner Pass and followed the channel of the Adige
as it broadened towards the south. Down the same valley
Austrian regiments poured into Lombardy in 1860, when the
plainsmen gave signs of readiness to revolt from foreign rule.
Modern changes have failed to detract from the importance of
this ancient highway, for the shortest railroad route connecting
Italy with central Germany is constructed along the natural
groove carved by the southward flowing waters of the Adige, and
the transit trade between the two countries follows its channel.
The most important Germanic invasion of the Trentino in
historical times began in 375 a.d. and lasted two centuries. This
movement was repeated in the last half of the tenth century.
Under the rule of the bishop-prince Frederick of Vanga, a con-
siderable number of German settlers established themselves on
his territory between the years 1207 and 1218. The actual Ger-
manization of the highlanders of the southern Tyrol had its start
in this period, the records of the time showing changes from
Italian to German in the names of localities as lands and estates
were acquired by Germans. But throughout medieval times and
to the end of the eighteenth century, historical records make
mention of the Florentine character of its industrial and com-
mercial life.
The southerly advance of the German language in the moun-
Fig. 2C.
Fig. 27.
Fig. 20 — View of the hi.storic Brenner I'a.ss. Tliri«if,di this nifiiintain oiM' Teutonic
invaders Ijave poured into Italy since tlie dawn of liistory.
Fig. 27 — Tlie mountain settlement of C'(jrtiiia in the Anipezzo dhstriet in the
Trentino is inhabited mainly by Italians.
Fig. 28.
Fig. 2!1.
Pig 28 — The approach to ^leran in tlie Austrian Tyrol and at the Italo-Clermanic
language border.
Fig. ■Z'^ — Stelvio Pass at the eastern edge of tlie area of Romansh dialects, show-
inf the mountainous character of the country in which tliis language has survived.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
71
tainous province has followed the valleys of the Etsch and
Eisack, for the channels through which mountain waters flowed
Fig. 30 — Sketch map of the Trentino showing languages spoken. Scale, 1:2,400,000.
towards the Adriatic also facilitated the transportation of goods
from the German highlands of central Europe to the Mediter-
ranean, A steady current of freight has been maintained in a
72 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
southerly course along this route since the beginning of con-
tinental commerce in Europe. In the Middle Ages numerous
colonies of German traders had acquired solid footing along the
much traveled road over the Brenner Pass which connected
Augsburg and Venice/
Early activity of German traders stamped its imprint on the
linguistic map by a wedge of Teutonic speech thrust towards the
Trentino, between Italian on the west and Ladin on the east.
This linguistic protuberance occupies the valley of the Etsch
south of its confluence with the Eisack. The divide between the
two languages has its westernmost reach near Trafoi,* known
also as Travis. The junction of Swiss and Austrian political
boundaries at this point corresponds to the contact between the
•German of the Tyrol and the Eomanic idioms of Engadine.
Thence, the linguistic line of separation skirts the base of the
Ortler massif and subsequently coincides with the watershed of
the Etsch and Noce rivers. Ladin settlements begin north of the
Fleims valley" and spread beyond the Gradena basin (Groden-
thal) to Pontebba (Pontafel) and Malborghet where the meeting of
Europe's three most important linguistic stocks, the Eomanic,
Germanic and Slavic, occurs.
The language spoken by the Italians of the Trentino consists
of Lombard and Venetian dialects. Ladin dialects are spoken in
some of the small valleys east of the Adige. In the valley of
Monastero, near the Swiss frontier, the inhabitants speak a
dialect of Ladin or Romansh which is akin to Friulian. This
patois was in greater use during the Middle Ages. The Ladins,
both in Austria and Italy, are Italians in every respect save that
of language, although here also the two peoples are closely related.
Ladin language is a slightly altered form of Latin containing
words of non-Eomanic stock which differ according to the locality
overrun by the Eomans. The same definition applies to the
Eomansh language of Switzerland. Eomansh and Ladin are
* 0. Noel, Histoire du commerce du monde, Paris, 1891, Vol. 2, pp. 148-168.
•B. Auerbach: Races et nationalitgs en Autriche-Hongrie, Paris, 1898, p. 86.
" Scheller, Deutsche ii. Eomanen in Siidtirol u. Venetien, Pet. Mitt., 1877, pp.
365-385.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 73
therefore basically Latin languages which did not develop to the
stage of ItaHan or French and which differ from each other in
the number of pre-Eoman words they contain. Friulian belongs
to the same category of Eomance languages and differs from
Ladin merely in having a larger proportion of Italian words.
Like Ladin it is not a literary language and is therefore being
superseded by ItaUan. Eomansh dialects of Switzerland will
probably survive longer since in the canton of Grisons they are
recognized as official together with German and Italian, and in
Engadine Eomansh is still a literary dialect.
The claims of Italy in the Trentino include" the Bolzano
district lying at the confluence of the Isarco and the Adige. This
locality is peopled by 16,000 Germans and 4,000 Italians. Meran,
the upper valleys of the Adige and Isarco together with their
aflfiuents, Bressanone on the Isarco, and Bruneco on the Eienza
likewise fall within the territory claimed by Italy. A return to
the Italian fold of the small groups of Italians scattered between
Salorno and Bolzano, between Bolzano and Meran and between
Bruneco and Bressanone is shown in this manner to lie within
the reahn of possibility. As early as 774 Charlemagne 's division
of the region between the kingdoms of Bavaria and Italy had
implied recognition of linguistic variations. But the importance
of maintaining German control over natural lines of access to
southern seas determined his successors to award temporal rights
in the southeastern Alps to bishops upon whose adherence to
Oermanic interests reliance could be placed. The bishopric of
Trentino thus passed under the Teutonic sphere of influence.
The present political union of the territory of the old see with the
Austrian Empire is hence a relic of medieval German politics.
Historically the Trentino 's connection with Italy rests on
ancient foundations. At the height of Eoman power Tridentium
was an important city. It was situated in the tenth Italian
region, known as Venetia et Histria. ALfter the fall of the western
Empire it was included in the Italian districts conquered by the
" A. Galanti : I diritti storici ed etnici dell' Italia sulle terre irredente, La Qeogr.,
Vol. 3, Nos. 3-4, March-April 1915, p. 88.
74 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Ostrogoths and Byzantines. Under the Lombards Trent became
the capital of a dukedom. In the Eomano-Germanie feudal period
it was part of the kingdom of Italy constituted by Charles the
Great, and later, of the Marches of Verona established by Otto I.
Conrad II in 1027 turned the region over to religious ownership.
From this date on it is known as the princely bishopric of Trent.
The bishop-princes who ruled in the Trentino, however, were
constantly at war with the feudal lords who had authority over the
lands north and south of the Trentino. In the sixteenth century
the court of Bernardo Clesio, one of the most famous of these
religious rulers, was distinctly Italian in thought and customs.
The Trentino bishopric was abolished in 1805 by Napoleon
and the region then became part of the kingdom of Bavaria.
From 1809 to 1814, however, the Trentino, together with a part
of the upper Adige valley, was converted into an Italian
administrative district under the name of Dipartimento dell' Alto
Adige. In 1815 the region was assigned to Austria together with
Lombardo-Venetia and the Tyrol.
Throughout the eventful history of the present millennium the
Tyrol has been the cockpit of Germano-Eomance clashes. A
lively competition between German and Italian traders has always
been maintained within its borders. During the era of religious
upheavals, the Germans rallied to the cause of the Eeformation
while the Italian element remained faithful to the authority of
the Vatican. Contact with the Teutonic element appears to have
failed, however, to eradicate or modify the Italian character of the
region's life and institutions.^^
The splendor of the Italian Eenaissance stamped its mark on
all the Tyrolese districts drained by waters flowing southwards.
Castles and churches of the Trentino show the influence of Italian
architectural styles. Their interior ornamentation derived its
inspiration from the same source. In painting, the Bressanone
and Bolzano schools of the fifteenth century likewise maintained
Italian traditions in the valley of the upper Adige. Statues and
'''A. Galanti: I Tedeschi sul versante meridionale delle Alpi, Typ. Aead. Lincei,
Eome, 1885, p. 185.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 75
bas-reliefs in the towns of this region also bear witness to the
Italian taste of its inhabitants.
All these artistic leanings towards Italy are best observed in
Trent itself. The celebrated castle of the "Buen Consiglio" is a
blend of Venetian and Veronese styles. Bramante was the
architect of the Tabarelli palace, and a disciple of TuUio Lom-
bardo built that of Moar. The Duomo di Trento owes its beauty
mainly to the artistic conceptions of the Comacini masters. Some
of its frescoes dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
are the handicraft of Veronese artists. This Italian influence has
been maintained to the present day. A tourist reaching the city
wUl behold Dante 's symbolic statue — the work of Zocchi, a Flor-
entine — immediately upon leaving the main station." Eoaming
through the city his attention will be attracted by innumerable
reminders of modern Italian work of the type seen in the fagade
of St. Peter's church. These are concrete manifestations of an
intellectual and artistic outflow from the Italian border north-
ward.
Eeports on the German propaganda carried on in the Trentino
have been made on several occasions to their governments by
Italian consular agents.^* This movement is prosecuted with
untiring perseverance by the members of the Tiroler Volksbund,
an organization founded in 1905, for the purpose of diffusing
German language and customs in southern Tyrol. Schools and
other institutions managed by German staffs provide Teutonic
education free of cost to the natives. Periodicals and pamphlets
are distributed profusely to this end. Lectures setting forth the
Germanic origins of Trentino settlements are delivered. A more
aggressive method of action consists in sending out "Wander-
lehrers" or traveling teachers to give elementary courses from
village to village.
Descendants of Eheto-Eomans settled in eastern Tyrol speak
a language of Latin stock which, in common with other moun-
" According to press reports in 1915 Dante's monument was destroyed by the
Austrians.
"G. de Lucchi: Trentino 6 Tirolo, Boll. 16, Minist. Aff. Esteri, Rome, 1915.
76 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
tain languages, failed to blossom into literature mainly on account
of the secluded life of its highland users. The dialect is closely
allied to the Friulian. The two form together the western border
of the Slovene linguistic area and attain Triest on the south.
Lack of written masterpieces tends to weaken the life of the
language and it is being replaced by Italian. Concurrently with
the growth of the region's foreign intercourse in modern times
invasion of German words can also be detected, though not to the
extent of impairing the fundamental Komanic strain.
The Adriatic provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are
peopled mainly by Italians and Slavs. German and Hungarian
elements in the population consist of civil and military officials
and of merchants. From an ethnological and linguistic standpoint
the maritime district is Italian or Slav according to its elevation.
The Romanic stock forms the piedmont populations while the
dwellers of the hilly coast chains are of Slavic issue and speech.
The western coast of the Istrian peninsula, however, is an area of
Italian speech, which is generally confined to urban centers.
The following figures for the population of the Dalmatian
islands show the numerical inferiority of the Italians : ^'
Population
Inhabitants
according to
speaking Serbo-
Inhabitants
speakinff
Locality census of 1910
Croatian dialects
Italian
Number
Per cent
Number
Per cent
Lissa, St. Andrea and
Busi
10,041
9,939
98.98
92
0.92
L e s i n a , Spalmadori
and Toreola
16,861
16,340
96.91
494
2.92
Curzola, Cazza, Lagosta
and adjoining reefs
21,628
21,186
97.95
436
2.01
Stagno disLriet, includ-
ing Meleda island"
9,424
9,393
99.67
9
0.1
" O. Keude : Italien und die Dalmatienische Inselfrage, Kartogr. Zeits., Vienna,
Nov. 15, 1915.
*" Austrian census returns have been the object of frequent criticism in non-
Germanic countries. The political interests of the Austrian government may have
led its officials to minimize the importance of the language spoken by dissenting peo-
ples. A tendency to overestimate the spread of German has always been suspected.
A common practice consists in forming artificial administrative districts so as to
create German numerical superiority within their borders. As a rule an increase of
10 per cent in the number of Slavs, Rumanians and Italians can be safely added to
the figures set forth in government statistics. Conversely the same percentage may
be subtracted with safety from the totals for Germans and Hungarians.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 77
Zara, Spalato, Sebenico, Eagusa and Cattaro," however, con-
tain flourishing colonies of Italians whose commercial enterprise^
has helped their mother tongue to prevail if not predominate in
their region. Outside of these cities, the Italian element, wherever
present, is restricted to littoral strips. The Slavs invariably
occupy the plateau and the slopes extending seaward.
The Istrian region of predominant Italian speech consists of
the western peninsular lowland extending south of Triest " to the
tip of the promontory beyond Pola."* Istrians to whom Italian
is vernacular number 147,420 individuals according to the census-
of 1910. The Slavs of the Karst and terraced sections constitut-
ing the rest of the population belong to the Eoman faith, but
have no other common bond with their Italian countrymen.
Istria is a triangle about 60 miles long with a maximum
breadth of 46 miles. It rises from the southwestern coast gradu-
ally up to the Dinaric Alps. Owing to its undulating surface and
the absence of coastal plains, it may be regarded as a part of
this range, jutting out into the sea. On the whole, Istria may be
called a Karst land, for three-fourths of its surface consists of
Karst-forming limestone and only one-fourth of sandstone and
marl. With few exceptions its natural waterways are confined
to the sandstone districts. The peninsula is also a transition
region between the mild Mediterranean and central European
climates. The summers are dry and in autumn heavy rains falL
Almost all the land is productive and 67 per cent of its popula-
tion live by agriculture and forestry.
Settlement by Slavs of the hills dominating the Adriatic-
appears to have taken place continuously from the ninth to the
seventeenth century. Feudatory chiefs of medieval ages first
*' Italian predominates in both Zara and Spalato, the latter city being second in
commercial importance along the Dalmatian coast. It is estimated that, in all, more
than 18,000 Italians inhabit Dalmatia.
" Triest and its environs are peopled mainly by Italians. The suburbs are in-
habited by crowded Slavic settlements. The census of 1910 shows 118,960 Italians,
57,920 Slovenes, 11,860 Germans and 2,400 Croats. For Istria returns of the same
date give: Italians 147,417, Serbo-Croatians 168,184, Slovenes 55,134.
^' M. Wutte: Das Deutschtum in Osterreichischen Kflstenland, Deutsche Erde^
Vol. 8, 1909, p. 202.
78 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
resorted to this method of developing the uncultivated slopes and
highlands of the eastern coast. The Venetian republic and the
Austrian government adopted similar measures of colonization.
Slavic tribes, hard pressed by their kinsmen or by Tatars from
the east, thus found refuge in the mountainous Dalmatian coast-
land under the £egis of western nations. A traveler taking ship
today and sailing from harbor to harbor along the shores of the
eastern Adriatic would readily notice the numerical superiority
of these descendants of Slavs. They constitute the mass of
toilers in every walk of life, and sooner or later probably wUl
erect a political fabric on the foundations of their linguistic
preponderance.
Slavic dialects are found in the Friulian sections of eastern
Italy as well as in the Abruzzi and Molise regions. The Slavic
population of Friuli was estimated in 1851 at 26,676. The census
of 1901 records the existence of 5,734 Slavic-speaking families
scattered in 16 communi and consisting of about 36,000 indi-
viduals.
The Slavs of Italy may be divided into four dialectical groups
as follows : ^°
Natisone group composed of 17,291 individuals
Torre " " " 12,986 "
Judrio « " " 1,230 "
Resia " " <' 4,671 "
The Molise group is the remnant of a once extensive Slav
colony which had reached the province of Chieti. Eound-
headedness, accompanied by high stature and blondness, among
inhabitants of the communes of Vasto, Cupello, Monteoderisio,
Abbateggio, Lanciano, San Giovanni Teatino, Cascanditella and
San Vito (Jhietino betrays Slavic ancestry. And yet Slavic
dialects are hardly heard any longer in these country districts.
The communes of Acquaviva CoUecroce and San Felice Slavo
alone boast of some 4,500 inhabitants who speak Slovene.
The Karst or Carso formation on which Slovene life developed
" G. Canastrelli: II numero degli Slavi in Friuli, Riv. Qeogr. It., Vol. 21,
No8. 1-2, Jan.-Feb. 1914, pp. 96-102.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 79
is the western section of a long calcareous plateau which, extends
from the Julian Alps, along the border of the ancient Friulian
gulf and attains Balkan ranges. It separates the valley of the
Save from the Adriatic. A characteristic aspect is noticeable
over all its extent in the thickness of its limestone beds and their
deep fissures. Surface water cannot collect and flow for any dis-
tance without disappearing into a fissure. The erosion forms of
the plateau are of the Karst type and differ radically from those
of the average humid climate. Chambers of marvelous dimen-
sions are formed; funnel-shaped sink-holes dot the surface; and
the rivers run underground.
The Slovenes settled on the calcareous plateau of Carniola
cluster around Laibach and attain the area of German speech on
the north, along the Drave between Marburg and Klagenfurth.
Eastward they march with Hungarians and the Serbo-Croat
group of southern Slavs. Their southern linguistic boundary also
coincides with that of the latter. Around Gottschee, however, a
zone of German intervenes between Slovene and Croatian dialects.
Practically the entire eastern coast of the Gulf of Triest lies in
the area of Slovene speech. The group thereby acquires the
advantage of direct access to the sea, a fact of no mean impor-
tance among the causes that contributed to its survival to the
present day in spite of its being surrounded by Germans, Hun-
garians, Croats and Italians.
The Slovenes may be considered as laggards among the Slavic
immigrants who followed Avar invasions. They would probably
have occupied the fertile plains of Hungary had they not been
driven to their elevated home by the pressure of Magyar and
Turkish advances. Confinement in the upland prevented their
fusion with any of the successive occupants of the eastern plains
below their mountain habitations. Eacial distinctiveness, char-
acterized by language no less than by a highly developed attach-
ment to tradition, resulted from this seclusion.
Starting from the Adriatic Sea in the vicinity of Triest the
boundary of Slovene territory, according to Niederle, extends to
Duino, Montefalcone, Gradisca and Cormons. From the last
80 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
locality it heads for Italiaii territory, withiri which, it cuts off the
districts east of Tarcento and Eesia from the area of Italian
speech. At Kanin the line is once more on Austrian soil. It now
proceeds to Pontafel, Saint-Hermagoras, Dobrac and ViUach, the
latter city being mainly German. Beyond the Drave, the lin-
guistic frontier passes close to Woerther Lake and thence by
Kostenberg and Moosburg. From this town the divide is pro-
longed to Gurk and extends towards Diex, Greutschach, Griffen
and St. Pancrace. It next attains Amfels. Fifty years ago,
according to the same authority, the environs of this village were
inhabited by Slovene populations. The district has since then
been reclaimed by German speech. The same is true of the right
bank of the Mur in the vicinity of Eadkersburg.
At Eadgona, the Slovene boundary crosses the Mur once more
and extends northward into Hungary as far as the German village
of St. Gotthard, which it leaves to the north. Thence it turns
southward at the Eaab and heads for the Mur, which it crosses
at Gornia Bistrica. The line then runs close to the provincial
boundaries of Croatia and Carniola before attaining the sea
again in Istria. The Slovene area thus delimited comprises the
duchy of Carniola, excepting the Gottschee enclave, northern
Istria, the Udine region, southeastern Karinthia, southern Styria
and part of the Hungarian "comitats" of Vas and Zala. This
Slovene land is now but a dwindled remnant of its former exten-
sion. At one time the Slovenes extended as far west as the
Pusterthal in Tyrol, while their settlements even reached the
Danube (at Linz and Vienna).
Contact between languages on the Italo-Austrian frontier has
influenced the political relations between the two countries. The
whole foreign policy of the Austrian Empire, in fact, may be said
to have been stimulated mainly by the necessity of keeping its
mixed population in subjection. The central position of Austria-
Hungary had made it the meeting-place of every important race
in Europe. The mountain-girt monarchy is a seething reservoir
of nationalities. Germans from the west flow into it. Czechs and
Slovaks press in from the northwest, Poles and Ruthenians from
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
81
the nortli and northeast. A Eumanian drive proceeds from the
southeast. Croats, Serbians and Slovenes are steadily pushing
northward. Italians, advancing from the southwest, complete the
Fig. 31 — ^The area of Slovene speech in Austria and adjacent parts of Italy.
ring. Facing these racial swarms a central mass of Hungarians
are striving to expand against them.
For more than twelve centuries Austria's geographical posi-
tion has made her the protectress of Europe from successive
onslaughts of barbarian hordes pressing from the east. The
German-speaking nucleus of the present Dual Monarchy was
founded, at the end of the eighth century, by Charles the Great
as a bulwark against the Avars. A little later the role of stem-
ming the tide of Hungarian attacks also devolved upon it. Fight-
ing incessantly and on the whole successfully against eastern
invaders, the Austrians gradually extended their territory
82 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
towards the Orient. The valley of the Danube provided them with
settling-land and passage-way. War and marriages brought
their share of added territory to the Hapsburg reigning family.
By 1526 Moravia, Bohemia, Silesia and Hungary had been added
to the Empire. Transylvania was conquered in the seventeenth
century, Galicia and Bukovina in the eighteenth. At the begin-
ning of the nineteenth century, Austria was the leader among
German-speaking states. Prussian shot and shell ousted her
from this position at the battle of Sadowa in 1866. But the task
undertaken over a thousand years ago is still being performed.
Austrians today are engaged in another effort to check the west-
ward Slavic flow.
The country is ill-prepared to meet its hereditary foe. The
sovereign existence of Austria-Hungary to this day can be
regarded only as an exceedingly marvelous feat of political jug-
glery. Its weakness lies in the presence of strong contingents of
dissimilar races in its population. Struggle between the com-
ponent masses is as unending as it is passionate. To the lack of
linguistic or racial affinity must be added the want of a liberal
form of government in the strictly representative or federative
sense. Eepresentative government, in the absence of everything
else, might have provided the required bond of political cohe-
sion. Of the total population of Austria only 11,000,000, or 24
per cent, are Germans. These Teutons pay allegiance to the
Hapsburg emperor along with 9,000,000 Hungarians, 3,000,000
Eumanians and about 1,000,000 Italians. The Slavic race, how-
ever, outnumbers every other element in the Empire. Its
21,000,000 members constitute 44 per cent of the subjects of
Charles I.
In one sense Austria's mission of protecting Europe ended as
soon as the Ottoman Empire ceased to be a source of danger.
To consolidate Danubian nationalities in a single group capable
of withstanding the Turkish advance had constituted Austria's
most glorious part in modern history. "With the elimination of
the Turkish danger, the necessity of political union among the
peoples occupying the valley of the Danube was removed. The
Tht A merican Geographical Sociefy of New York
Fronliers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, PL III
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 83
cMef reason for the maintenance of an Austrian state thereby
ceases to exist. Events of our own times reveal the natural
working out of these international problems. As long as Moham-
medanism threatened to absorb Christianity in southeastern
Europe, the various peoples of the Austrian Empire stood
shoulder to shoulder against a common foe. The sense of security
now induces them to turn their thoughts on themselves and
effectively hasten the growth of national consciousness based on
ideals and aspirations which can be expressed in a common lan-
guage.
The passing of Austria's usefulness as a nation has been
marked by the country's growing vassalage to the leading Teu-
tonic power. At Berlin, the center of Imperial Germany, the aim
of every leader is to further the easterly expansion of the Empire.
Austria, commanding the natural route to the southeast, figures
as a precious asset in these imperial estimates. But success to
German ambition spells defeat to the dreams of political inde-
pendence cherished in the minds of the peoples of Austria-
Hungary. A conflict of vital importance to each contestant is
raging. The struggle is likely to be maintained wherever more
than a single language continues to be spoken.
The mastery of the Adriatic, claimed by Italy at present, has
been contested in the past twenty-five centuries by every people
which succeeded in gaining a foothold on its shores. lUyrians,
Greeks, Eomans, Byzantines, Venetians and Turks each in their
day acquired maritime supremacy in the Mediterranean, and
naturally aspired to control this waterway. The prize was worth
fighting for. It was part of the lane of traffic between the rich
valley of the Po, the lands beyond the Alps and eastern coun-
tries. In the present century eastern trade generally runs in
different channels. A sufficient tonnage, however, finds its way
to the great harbors of the Adriatic to excite Italian ambitions.
Moreover Italian manufacturers are looking forward to the
establishment of crosswise trade relations with the Balkan
peninsula. These are economic considerations which impart
definite aim to the policy of Italian statesmen.
84. FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The most satisfactory picture of Italian desire to annex
Dalmatia appears on maps of the Adriatic, which show the con-
trast between the opposite coasts. On the Italian side, the coast-
line runs with monotonous uniformity. It is devoid of the head-
lands, gulfs or islands which impart economic, strategic and
scenic value to Dalmatia. Barring short stretches in Puglia the
entire Italian coast is shallow and sandy. Its weU-known ports
hardly deserve the name. Mariners are well aware of the
obstacles to navigation along the whole western Adriatic shore.
At the head of this sea, especially, the situation for Italian
shipping is most unfavorable, owing to the large number of
rivers which discharge material collected from practically the
entire eastern watershed of the Alps and that of the northern
Apennines. From west to east some among the most important
of these rivers are the Po, Adige, Piave and Isonzo. This
piling of material, added to the process of land emergence going
on at the head of the Adriatic, impairs the value of the Gulf of
Venice to modem navigation.
The Dalmatian coast, however, with its numerous bays and
gulfs setting far into the land and broken by many headlands,
is fringed by a garland of outlying islands. These natural
features of the region provide the advantages denied to Italy.
Almost every mile of shore in Dalmatia contains a commodious
harbor for merchantmen or a well-sheltered base for war vessels.
Most of the rivers originating in the mountain chains over-
looking blue water flow eastward toward the Danube. Very little
sUt and sediment therefore finds its way to the Dalmatian
coast.
Linguistically, the eastern shore of the Adriatic is Serbian or
Albanian. But the history of this coastal land is Italian in spite
of the showing of census returns as to the decided numerical
inferiority of Italians within its limits. Eome had reached Dal-
matia and the Near East by way of the Adriatic. A whole chain
of imposing ruins extending to the wild Albanian shores bear the
unmistakable impress of Eoman splendor. In the partition of the
Roman Empire in 295 a.d. Dalmatia was assigned to the western
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
85
and not to the eastern half. The period
of its subjection to Venetian rule is one
of the most brilliant in its history. All
the civilization it received came from
the west.
The fact is that the Italian element
has always been predominant. After
1866 its influence was viewed with dis-
favor by the Austrian government.
Serbians and Croats were encouraged
to settle in the Italian communities of
the coast and officials of the Dual Mon-
archy were instructed to assist the Slavs
in every possible manner with a view to
counterbalancing Italian primacy in the
province. In recent years the task of
the Austrian government became doubly
difficult, for its representatives could not
avoid playing alternately into the hands
of Serbians and Italians.
Dalmatia has always greeted Italian
thought as the heritage of Rome and
Venice. Its history, its most notable
monuments and its whole culture are
products of either Roman or Venetian
influence. The maritime cities in par-
ticular still remain strongholds of Italian
thought. Almost every one boasts of
a native son who has distinguished him-
self in the cause of Italy.
Zara, which Italian authors delight
in qualifying as ''italianissima," is the
native city of the Italian patriot Arturo
Colantti. The great Dalmatian poet
Niccolo Tomasseo, whose monument was
erected in Sebenico in 1896, was a son
'-... ^
io
II E-.
fVs'
i
86 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of this city and, although an intensely patriotic Slav, nevertheless
thus expressed himself in Italian :
Ne piu tra'l monte e il mar, povero lembo
Di terra e poche. ignude isole sparte,
Patria mia, sarai; ma la rinata
Serbia guerriera mano e mite spirto,
showing thereby the extent of the hold of Italian culture
over the laud. Again, Spalato is the birthplace of Antonio Baja^
monti, one of the greatest exponents of Italy's claims over
Dalmatia.
According to the Austrian census of 1910 the population of
the province consisted of 645,666 inhabitants. Of these it is esti-
mated that 60,000 are Italians, who constitute the progressive
and educated element of the population. The Slav inhabitants
number approximately 480,000, but only about 30,000 among them
have a speaking knowledge of Italian. The mass of this Slavic
element is uneducated.
The lUyrians were early inhabitants of the eastern Adriatic
coast whom the Romans had conquered in order to check piracy
in the Adriatic. After being tamed these barbarians formed the
substratum of the population of Adriatic cities. Throughout the
coast their language was displaced during the Middle Ages by
the Venetian of Italian traders. In the Albanian mountains, how-
ever, the old niyrian tongue strongly impregnated with Latin
words still survives. Eoman influence could not be exerted on
this rugged land as strongly as on the coast.
Rome's ancient domination of the lUyrian coast and Wal-
lachian plains led to highly interesting consequences. A genuine
Romance language was once spoken by the mountain population
of shepherds which extended across the entire Balkan peninsula
from the Dalmatian coast, through the Bosnian and Serbian
highlands, into the easternmost ranges of the Carpathians. The
similarity observable in Balkan and Carpathian mountain dialects
thus finds its source in the original easterly expansion of Rome.
The Banat territory, in which the proportion of Rumanian inhabi-
tants is high, is the bridge land which connects the Rumanian-
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE 8T
form of Latin used on the broad Transylvanian shelf to the
Albanian prevailing in the broken-np highlands of Albania.
Eomance speech therefore found a ready soil in the Balkan uplifts.
It may even be detected in the mountainous sections of Thrace,
a province which also fell under Roman rule during the transition
period from pagan to Christian days.
The arrival of Slavs in the seventh century forced the Romans
to take refuge behind city walls, so that although the vast non-
urban part of the province became Slavic in population, the cities
remained Latin and formed themselves into a number of inde-
pendent republics. These city states passed under Venetian
protection in the ninth and tenth centuries to safeguard them-
selves against the piratical raids of Slavs who had succumbed to
the nefarious influence exerted by the dissected coast with its
numerous fiords and deep-water harbors.
The Venetian protectorate soon became converted into direct
sovereignty. But the yoke of the Doges lay light on the land, the
administration of cities being left entirely in the hands of the
citizens. Venetian authority was most strongly felt in Dalmatia
after the assumption of the title of Dux Histriae et Dalmatiae by
Doge Pietro Orseolo U. All the efforts of Hungarians in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and of Turks in the seven-
teenth, to insinuate themselves into Dalmatian affairs were futile.
The imposing barrier of the Dinaric Alps forbade intercourse
between Dalmatia and the east. Life and progress flowed into
the province from the west over Adriatic waters.
Dalmatia changed hands frequently during the Napoleonic
period. Perhaps it is on this account that the Dalmatian, when
questioned regarding his nationality, answers by stating that he
has two languages. Of these he calls one "lingua del cuore," and
the other "lingua del pane." His native province was awarded
to Austria by the treaty of Campoformio in 1797 and subsequently
annexed to Napoleon's Empire by the treaty of Presburg in 1805.
It reverted to Austrian rule in 1814. Successive masters, how-
ever, failed to root out Italian in the region. The language was
recognized as official until 1860. The formation of a united
88 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Italian state marked the beginning of a repressive policy directed
against Italians by the Austrian government. The effort of the
Hapsburg administration was entirely directed towards the devel-
opment of the Adriatic Slavs in order to counterbalance Italian
influence. A great revival of Croatian and Serbian national feel-
ing resulted from this policy.
The award of the entire eastern Adriatic coast to Italy would
not only trespass on lands of alien speech, but would seriously
hamper future economic development of Croatians and Serbians
by preventing these peoples from attaining the sea. These points
are admitted by most Italian irredentists. They therefore limit
their claims to the Istrian peninsula and the coast region of
Dalmatia comprised between the Velebiti range and the Narenta
river. Italy's position in the Adriatic would be improved by the
recognition of the rights of her Slav neighbors. The goodwill of
a united and liberated Jugoslavia, which would be bound to Italy
by ties of interest and sentiment, would thus be acquired.
The Croatian coastland, in the section which extends along the
waterway of the same name from the gulf of Fiume to the mouth
of the Zermagna river, is known as the Morlacca. The bay of
Buccari is strategically necessary for the protection of Fiume,
and Italians would probably make a strong claim for its posses-
sion in case the larger seaport came into their possession. The
Serbian coastland really begins south of the Narenta river and
centers around Eagusa. This is the only city of any importance
on the Adriatic coast in which evidences of Serbian culture are
discernible.
The old Slavic settlers were probably traders who plied between
the coasts of Dalmatia and Abruzzi during the Middle Ages.
In the kingdom of Naples Slav colonists are known as early as
the eleventh century, during the reign of Emperor Otto I. The
bulk of Slavic immigration into Italy dates, however, from the
beginning of the fifteenth century when possession of the coast
provinces was disputed by the Aragonians and Angevins. Both
claimants induced Slavs to colonize the contested regions on con-
dition that they would recognize the authority of those who
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
89
provided them with land. At a later period the advance of
Turkish hordes in the Balkans drove a large number of Slavic
families westward.
The Turkish conquest of Greece also forced many Greek
families to seek safety on the Italian mainland. As a result, two
Fig. 33 — The Slavic colonies of the Molise group in eastern Italy are shown by
black dots.
communities of Greek speech are found on Italian territory at
Lecce in the province of Puglia and at Bora in Calabria. The
vernacular of both these regions contains a strong proportion of
Italian words without, however, losing its afSnity with the original
90 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
mother tongue. The Lecce commuiiity consists of 4,973 families
scattered in nine communi. The southern group is represented
by 2,389 families settled in four communi of the Bora district, in
Beggio di Calabria and in Palizzi. Altogether Greek is spoken as
a vernacular by 30,700 inhabitants of Italy.
Still another reminder of the Turkish conquests of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries is afforded by the presence of an Albanian
element living along the eastern coast of Italy. This group con-
sists of between 80,000 and 90,000 Albanians speaking their own
language. The purity of Albanian speech and custom has been
preserved by them on the alien soil skirting western Adriatic
waters.^^
This total shows a marked decrease from the figure of 96,000
reported in the census of 1901. Emigration accounts mainly for
this loss. At the same time, a tendency among Albanians to
forsake their vernacular for Italian is discernible as intercourse
with the dominant element increases.
All these nuclei of foreign languages cannot impair the unity
of Italian nationality because the racial distinctions on which
they are based have been largely obliterated. The final supremacy
of Italian language is already in sight. From the valleys of
Piedmont to the eastern coastlands which face Albania, the alien
tongues are giving way before the national vernacular, perhaps
just because no pressure or effort to hasten their disappearance
is being exerted by the government.
'^ O. Marinelli: II numero degli Albanesi in Italia, Riv. Geogr. It., Vol. 20, pp.
364-367; A. Similari: Gli Albanesi in Italia, loro costumi e poesie popolari, Naples,
1891.
BORDERLANDS OF ITALIAN LANGUAGE
91
TABLE I
Inhabitants of Italy Speaking Non-Italian Vbenaculaes '
Languagb
French
German
Slovene
Serbian
Albanian
Greek
Catalonian
Number of Families '■^
(Average of four persons
Localities to the family)
Saluzzo (Cuneo) 238
Aosta ( Torino) 15,692
Pignerol 1,937
Suse 1,779
Aosta (Torino) 430
Domodossola (Novara) 250
Varallo 412
Asiago (Vicenza) 501
Tregnago (Verona) 30
Pieve di Cadore (Belluno) 299
Tolmezzo (Udine) 280
Cividale del Priuli (Udine) 3,769
Gemona 120
Tolmezzo 990
Tarcento 1,371
Larino (Campobasso) 1,069
Larino (Campobasso) 2,431
Penne (Teramo) 66
Ariano di Puglia (Avel.) 763
San Severo (Poggia) 832
Taranto (Lecce) 757
Lagonegro (Potenza) 2,319
Catanzaro 701
Cotrone (Catanzaro) 789
Nicastro 434
Castrovillari (Cosenza) 3,330
Cosenza 1,441
Paola (Cosenza) 408
Rossano 1,702
Corleone (Palermo) 385
Palermo 2,733
Lecce 4,935
Gerace (Reggio di Calab.) 129
Reggio di Calabria 1,841
Alghero (Sassari) 2,552
Total 57,715
» Annuario Statistico Italiano, 2d series. Vol. 4, 1914, Roma, 1915, p. 28.
' The Italian practice of computing by families is a result in this instance of
the oflBcial standpoint which recognizes foreign languages as prevailing only in home
life.
92
FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The proportion of inhabitants of Italian (including Ladin)
speech in the Adriatic lands claimed by Italy is given as follows
according to the Austrian Census of 1910 : ^
TABLE II
Peoportioit of Inhabitants of Italian (Incltjding Ladin) Speech in the
Adriatic Lands Claimed by Italy According to the Austrun Census op
1910:
Coast Total number of Number of Italian (and Ladin)
Pkovinces Austrian subjects speaking Austrian subjects
Triest (city) 190,913 118,959
Gorz " 29,291 14,812
Gorz (district) 73,275 2,765
Gradisea " 31,321 26,263
Monfalcone " 47,858 45,907
Sesana " 30,078 343
Tolmein " 38,070 29
Rovigno (city) 11,308 10,859
Capodistria (district) 87,652 38,006
Lussin " 20,450 9,884
Mitterburg " 48,243 4,032
Parenzo " 60,368 41,276
Pola " 85,943 40,863
Veglia " 21,136 1,544
Volosea " 61,363 953
Total number of Number of Italian (and Ladin)
Dalmatia Austrian subjects speaking Austrian subjects
Benkovae (district) 44,054 84
Cattaro " 36,014 538
Curzola " 29,695 444
Imotski " 42,086 46
Knin " 54,936 186
Lesina " 26,902 586
Makarska " 27,649 117
Metkovie " 15,475 32
Ragusa " 38,632 526
San Pietro "
(Brazza) 22,865 265
Sebenico " 57,658 968
Sinj « 57,021 111
Spalato " 98,509 2,357
Zara " 83,359 11,768
' G. Lukas : Die Latinitat der adriatischen Kiiste Osterreich-Ungarns — Geogra-
phische Vorlesungen, Pet. Mitt., Vol. 6, Nov. 1915, pp. 413-416.
CHAPTER V
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES
Scandinavia's remoteness from the center of European
political strife lias not saved the region from the inconveniences
arising from linguistic clashes. Especially is this true where
political and linguistic boundaries do not coincide. The Danish-
Grerman frontier has been marked by antagonism between Danes
and Germans. Denmark's hold on Schleswig-Holstein prior to
1866 had engendered bitter feeling among Germans, who consid-
ered the subjection of their kinsmen settled on the right bank of
the Elbe estuary as unnatural. After Prussia had annexed the
contested region, it was the Danes' turn to feel dissatisfied and
to claim the districts occupied by their countrymen.
The problem of SchlesAvig-Holstein is a direct consequence of
Germany's geography. By its position in Europe the Teutonic
empire is essentially a land power. Its maritime development
began in the midst of adverse natural conditions in the northern
confines of the country. The southern Baltic and the North Sea
are both shallow. Sandbanks and winter ice hamper navigation
in the easternmost stretch of these waters. An outlet exists only
in the round-about and rock-studded Danish straits. The Oder,
Elbe and Ems are constantly discharging material collected from
the mountainous heart of Europe. The harbors of the north-
western shore are artificial and require ceaseless watching, for
all of which German navigation pays a heavy annual tax.
The Danish tongue of land which divides Germany's northern
sea boundary into two separate regions contains in its eastern
and northern coasts the very advantages which Germany cannot
find on its northern frontier. Eastern Jutland boasts a few
natural harbors located at the head of the indentations which
impart a fiord-like aspect to this coast and which in course of
93
94 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
time have grown into centers of commercial activity. German
shipping circles would consider the annexation of the Danish
peninsula to Germany as a measure leading to high economic
advantages, even though the construction of the Kiel canal has
materially changed conditions which affected the Danish-German
situation when the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were
annexed in 1866.
The present Danish-speaking population of Schleswig-Holstein
is variously estimated at between 140,000 and 150,000. These
subjects of the Kaiser occupy the territory south of the Danish
boundary to a line formed by the western section of the Lecker
Au, the southern border of the swampy region extending south
of Eens and the northern extension of the Angeln hills. Between
this line and the area in which German is spoken a zone of the
old Frisian tongue of Holland survives along the western coast
of the peninsula from the Lecker Au to the Treene river.^
Frisian is also spoken in the coastal islands.
The degree to which linguistic variations adapt themselves to
physical configuration is admirably illustrated in this case, by
the southerly extension of Danish along the eastern section of the
peninsula where persistence of the Baltic ridge appears in the
hilly nature of the land. The Low German of the long Baltic
plain also continued to spread unimpeded within the low-lying
western portion of the narrow peninsula, until its northward
extension was arrested by uninhabited heath land. The presence
of Frisian along the western coast is undoubtedly connected with
the adaptability of Frisians to settle in land areas reclaimed from
the sea.
The province of Schleswig began to acquire historical promi-
nence as an independent duchy in the twelfth century. Barring
few interruptions its union with the Danish crown has been con-
tinuous to the time of the Prussian conquest. Li 1848 both
Schleswig and Holstein were disturbed by a wave of political
agitation which expressed itself in demands for the joint incorpo-
* A substantial account of the tribes speaking these three languages was given as
early as 731 by the Venerable Bede in his Historia Ecclesiastioa.
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 95
ration of both states in the German Confederation. To what
extent the mass of Danish inhabitants of the duchies took part in
this movement is a matter of controversy. Holstein was an
ancient fief of the old Germano-Roman Empire. Its population
has always been largely German. But the duchy of Schleswig- is
peopled mainly by Danes. By the terms of the treaty of Prague
of August 23, 1866, both Austria and Prussia had agreed to
submit final decision on the question of nationality to popular
vote.' The provisions of the clause dealing with the referendum,
however, were not carried out, and on Jan. 12, 1867, Schleswig
was definitely annexed by Prussia.''
Incorporation of the Danish provinces was followed by sys-
tematic attempts to Germanize the population* through the
agency of churches and schools. In addition a number of coloni-
zation societies such as the "Ansiedelungs Verein fiir westliche
Nordschleswig," founded at Eodding in 1891,' and the "Deutsche
Verein fiir das nordliche Schleswig" were formed to introduce
German ownership of land in the Danish districts. The final
years of the nineteenth century in particular constituted a period
of strained feeling between Danes and Germans owing to unset-
tled conditions brought about by duality of language and
tradition.
At present the problem of Schleswig is considered settled by
the German government. A treaty signed on January 11, 1907,
between the cabinets of Berlin and Copenhagen defined the status
of the inhabitants of the annexed duchy. The problem of the
"Heimatlose" or citizens without a country" was solved by the
' [Translation.] " Art. V. His Majesty the Emperor of Austria transfers to His
Majesty the King of Prussia all the rights which he acquired by the Vienna Treaty
of Peace of 30th October, 1864, over the Duchies of Holstein and Schleswig, with the
condition that the populations of the Northern Districts of Schleswig shall be ceded
to Denmark if, by a free vote, they express a wish to be united to Denmark." E.
Herstlet: The Map of Europe, by Treaty, London, 1875, Vol. 3, p. 1722.
" A later treaty signed by Austria and Prussia at Vienna on Oct. 11, 1878,
suppressed the referendum clause, which had never been viewed with favor by the
German government.
* M. R. Waultrin : Le rapprochement dano-allemand et la question du Schleswig,
Ann. Sci. Polit., May 15, and July 15, 1903.
° L. Gasselin: La question du Schleswig-Holstein, Paris, 1009.
" L. Gasselin : op. cit., p. 206.
96 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
recognition of the right of choice of nationality on their part.
The German government considered this measure as satisfying
the aspirations of its subjects of Danish birth. Nevertheless,
although the Danish government appeared to share these views,
the acquiescence of Danes living in Germany to any solution other
Ci+ies with
I ov8r50% Danish
!;«'25-50%. »
i® 5-25%.-"
X© 5-25%Frisi8n
i;Oover95%6ermaii
BEKIEg
Fig. 34 — Sketch map of Schleswig-Holstein showing languages spoken. According
to the German viewpoint. Scale, 1:1,200,000. (Based on maps on pp. 59, 60, Andree's
Handatlas, 6th ed.)
than the restoration to Denmark of the Danish-speaking sections
of Schleswig remains doubtful. That suspicion of the loyalty of
the Schleswig Danes is still entertained in Germany is shown
by statements like that made by Henry Goddard Leach, Secretary
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 97
of the American-Scandinavian Foundation, when he asserted^
that Eoald Amundsen, discoverer of the South Pole, was pre-
vented from lecturing in Norwegian, in the town of Flensborg,
because the language resembled Danish,
54°30'
Fig. 35 — Sketch map of Schleswig-Holstein showing languages spoken. According
to the Danish viewpoint. Scale, 1:1,200,000. (After Eosendal based on Clausens
and Heyers.)
In Norway the linguistic problem goes under the name of
Maalstraev. The question of language in that country was
debated with marked fervor * during the years prior to the sepa-
ration from Sweden. "Freedom with self-government, home,
' Scandinavia and the Scandinavians, New York, 1915, p. 30.
' Op. cit., p. 143.
98 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
land and our own language ' ' was the plea of Mr, Jorgen Lovland,
subsequently Premier of Norway, in an address to the Norwegian
youth in 1904, "Political freedom," then said Mr, Lovland, "is
not the deepest and greatest. Greater is it for a nation to pre-
serve her intellectual inheritance in her native tongue,"
Norwegian history is not continuous, complaisant historians to
the contrary, A long break occurs from the Union of Kalmar in
1397, when the country ceased to exist as a political entity, to
1814, During this period of extinction, Norway was a mere
geographical shuttlecock tossed between Sweden and Denmark.
The latter country as a rule obtained the upper hand in its deal-
ings with Norway, This relation accounts for the analogies in
the languages of the two nations. But although Norway had
seceded from Denmark in 1814, the Danish language, representing
the speech of the more energetic and better educated Danes,
remained official. Four and a half centuries of union between the
two countries had made Danish the medium of intellectual devel-
opment throughout Norway, But this linguistic invasion was
accompanied by a notable modification of Danish, Norwegian
intonations and sound articulations became adapted to it and the
Norwego-Danish language, which is spoken today, gradually came
into use.
This hybrid language, however, does not prevail exclusively.
About 95 per cent of the Norwegians speak, according to districts,
different dialects derived from the Old Norse, The Norwego-
Danish, or Eiksmaal, is the language of polite society and the one
which a foreigner naturally learns when in Norway, The lan-
guage of the land, or Norsk as it is called by the Norwegians,
has the merit of being more homogeneous than either Danish or
Swedish.
Nationality and language have grown apace in Norway, Prior
to the nineteenth century the use of words taken from the Nor-
wegian dialects was considered bad form. The granting of a
constitution to the Norwegians, in 1814, created a strong feeling
of nationality throughout the land. This spirit was reflected in
active research for every form of Old Norse culture. Hitherto
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 99
despised patois words were forced into prose or poetry by the
foremost Norwegian writers, a movement to Norsefy the Riks-
maal thus being originated.
As a result of these endeavors a new language, the "Lands-
maal," or fatherland speech, came into being about the middle
of the nineteenth century. The name of Ivar Aasen will always
be linked with it. This highly gifted peasant devoted his life to
the idea of a renaissance of the Old Norse language through the
unification of the current peasant dialects. Scientific societies,
urged by patriotism no less than by genuine scholarly interest,
granted him subsidies which enabled him to carry on his studies.
Two of his works — "The Grammar of the Norwegian Popular
Language," published in 1848, and a "Dictionary of the Nor-
wegian Popular Language," in 1850— virtually established a new
medium of speech in Norway.
Landsmaal was happily introduced just about the time when
a sense of national consciousness began to dawn on Norwegian
minds. By a number of enactments of the Storting the study of
the new national tongue was made compulsory. This body first
acted in May 1885 by requesting the Government "to adopt the
necessary measures so that the people's language, as school and
official language, be placed side by side with our ordinary written
speech.* Then, in 1892, the following law for elementary schools
was framed: "The school board (in each district) shall decide
whether the school readers and text-books shall be composed in
Landsmaal or the ordinary book-'maal' and in which of these
languages the pupil's written exercises shall in general be com-
posed. But the pupil must learn to read both languages."
Finally, in 1896, the study of Landsmaal was made obligatory in
the high schools.
After Norway secured complete national independence, in
1905, the Landsmaal advanced rapidly. Its use was permitted in
university examinations. By 1909 one hundred and twenty-five
out of six hundred and fifty school districts had adopted "New
Norse" as the medium of instruction." In the bishopric of
• Op. cit., p. 147. " Op. cit., p. 148.
100 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Bergen the new language came to stay in 56 out of 101 country
parishes. The issue between Landsmaal and Biksmaal being
closely linked with nationalism in Norway, many Norwegians have
now come to look upon the Danish tongue as a sign of former
vassalage. New Norse, on the other hand, embodies the newly
acquired national independence. In the eyes of patriots it is the
language which is most closely allied to the saga tongue of their
Viking ancestors. And yet it is stated that less than a thousand
persons in Norway actually use New Norse in their conversa-
tion." The supplanting of Norwego-Danish by the made-to-order
Landsmaal bids fair to take time. But the process of welding
Norwegian dialects into a single national language is going on.
In this must be sought the significance of Norway's language
agitation. A Norwegian tongue which will be spoken within Nor-
wegian boundaries is being formed. In recent years it has been
customary to publish all acts of Parliament both in Norwego-
Danish and in Landsmaal.
The Swedish language differs from Norwegian by a typical
accentuation. The growth of the language to its present form
may be traced back to the Eunic period of the thirteenth century.
At that time Swedish was free from foreign admixture. The
influence of Latin and of Middle and Low German was felt later.
The language passed successively through the period of Old
Swedish (1200-1500) and Early Modern Swedish (1500-1730).
Its present form belongs to the Later Modern School, although
it is spoken now without much change from the language of the
middle eighteenth century.
The eastern half of the European continent contains a zone
of excessive linguistic intermingling along the line where Teutonic
and Slavic peoples meet. From the shores of the White Sea to
the Baltic and thence to the coast of the Black Sea an elongated
belt of lowland was ill fitted to become the seat of a single state
because nature has not provided it with strongly marked geo-
graphical boundaries which might have favored the development
of nationality. Hence it is that before the eighteenth century we
" Op. cit., p. 150.
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 101
do not find a single nation in possession of this region. On the
other hand, it is the site on which three religions met in bloody
fray in modern times. At the beginning of the modern era its
northern sections became the theater of wars between Protestants
and Catholics, while to the south, Christians arrayed against
eastern infidels were obliged to war for centuries before the
danger of the invasion of central Europe by Mohammedan hordes
was totally removed.
The Finns, occupying the northernmost section of this elon-
gated belt, are linguistically allied to the Turki. Physically they
constitute the proto-Teutonic substratum of the northern Eussians
with whom they have been merged. Their land was transferred
from Sweden to Eussia in 1808. Autonomy conceded by the
Czar's government provided the inhabitants with a tolerable
political status, until it was rescinded by the imperial decree of
February 15, 1899. The opening years of the present century
marked the beginning of a policy of Slavicization prosecuted with
extreme vigor on the part of the provincial administrators.
The Finnish peoples of Eussia must be regarded as autochthons
who have been subjected to the inroads of both Slavic and Tatar
invasions. In the ninth century a.d. they formed compact popu-
lations on the European mainland directly south of Finland,
where their descendants now group themselves in scattered
colonies. Except in Finland they are being Slavicized at a rapid
rate and the Slav population is now imposing itself on the Tatar
which had once swamped the indigenous element.
Early mention of these Finns shows them divided into several
tribes. The Livs and Chuds, who dwelt mainly around the gulfs
of Livonia and of Finland, were the forefathers of the present
inhabitants of northern Livonia as well as of Esthonia.^^ The
Ingrians and the Vods inhabited the basin of the Neva. The
Suomi tribes, of which the Kvens, Karels, Yams and Tavasts were
the most important, occupied the Finnish territory held at present
by their descendants. Every river valley of northwestern Eussia
was in fact a tribal homeland. The term Finnish as applied to
^'A. Eambaud: Hiatoire de la Russie, Paris, 1914, p. 21.
102 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
these tribes refers to their culture, which was Asiatic throughout.
Eacially, however, they consist of Nordics with a strong addition
of Tatar blood.
The area of Finnish speech forms a compact mass extending
south of the 69th parallel to the Baltic shores. Its complete access
to the sea is barred in part by two coastal strips in the gulfs of
Bothnia and Finland in both of which Swedish predominates in
varying percentages." The group of the Aland Islands, although
included in the Czar's dominions, is also peopled by Swedes all
the way to the southwestern point of Finland." This broken
fringe of Swedish is conceded to be a relic of the early occupation
of Finland by Swedes.^^ One of its strips, the Bothnian, is
remarkably pure in composition. The band extending on the
northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, however, contains enclaves
of the Finnish element. This is ascribed to an artificial process
of "fennification" resulting from the introduction of cheap labor
in the industrial regions of southern Finland. Slower economic
development of the provinces of the western coast, on the other
hand, tends to maintain undisturbed segregation of the population.
The ties uniting Finland with Sweden are moral and cultural,
Swedish missionaries of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were
the agents through whom Christianity was introduced into Fin-
land, Together with religion many Swedish customs and laws
superseded the primitive social organization of the Finns, The
relation established was virtually that of an intellectual minority
gaining the upper hand over an ignorant majority. A change in
the situation came about in the middle of the fourteenth century
when Finland became an integral part of the Swedish kingdom
and all civil and political distinctions between the two elements
of its populations were abolished,
Finland's union with the west failed, however, to bring about
Swedish predominance in the land. The Finns preserved their
" Atlas de Finlande, Carte 46, Helsingfors, 1911.
'* K. B. Wiklund: Spraken i Finland, 1880-1900, Ymer, 1905, No. 2, pp. 132-149.
"R. Saxen: Efipartition des langues, Fennia, Vol. 30, No. 2, 1910-1911,
Helsingfors, 1911.
Fig. 36.
Fi(i, :!7
Plfi. 30 View (if tin' T,:ikr' r-niiiifvy near Kiio|]i. slin\\iii(,' the Kalhn'esi Sea \\ itli
low islands and level slmrcs. This is a i-haracleri^( ir Finnish lands, 'aiic.
Fig. :;" — Above the Koivul<oski Falls at Kajana. Finnish waterways are the
n.snal lanes of traffic between the i]iland seas of that country.
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 103
language and tended in fact to assimilate their conquerors. The
physical isolation of their country from Sweden contributed
largely to foster this incipient stage of Finnish nationality. The
Grulf of Bothnia and the frozen solitudes of Lapland proved an
effective barrier to the complete fusion of Swedes and Finns.
Eastward, however, no natural obstacles intervened between Fin-
land and Eussia. The prolonged struggle between the latter
country and Sweden hence inevitably led to the Eussian conquest
of Finland.
The peace of Nystad in 1721 enabled Eussia to occupy Finnish
territory for the first time. All of the southeastern portion of the
duchy then became part of the Muscovite empire. A further
cession in 1743 at the treaty of Abo brought Swedish frontiers as
far west as the Kymmens line. The final conquest was ratified by
the treaty of peace signed by Swedish and Eussian plenipoten-
tiaries on September 17, 1809. Sweden formally renounced its
rights over Finland and the duchy became part of Eussia.
Today Finland is a country with three languages. Eussian is
the channel of official activity. Finnish, through a literary
revival, has won its right to be the language of the land and this
is a symbol of the Finns' desire for independent national exist-
ence. Swedish remains as the age-old medium through which
Christianity and western culture were conveyed. It is also to a
large extent the business language of the province, especially for
communication with western Europe. Competition between the
three languages is carried on with unabating energy. The
struggle is an outward manifestation of the fight for iadependence
waged by the natives of Finland in the presence of Swedish and
Eussian efforts to dominate the country. The common danger
from Eussia has lately drawn the Swedish and Finnish groups
together, although the Finns were previously strongly anti-
Swedish. The old antagonism still lingers in society life. The
Swedish-speaking element rarely mixes with the Finnish-speaking.
This is particularly noticeable at Helsingfors, where each lan-
guage represents a distinct stratum of social life.
In Eussia 's Baltic provinces two of the world's oldest yet
104 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
absolutely distinct languages are spoken. South of the Gulf of
Finland the Esthonians or Chuds stUl retain a primitive form of
Mongolian. In the neighboring Letto-Lithuanian group, on the
other hand, a speech which is closely akin to the old Aryan is
employed. Almost any Lithuanian peasant can understand simple
phrases in Sanskrit. The survival of archaic languages in this
section of Europe is the result of isolation provided by a forested
and marshy country in which folk-characteristics maintained their
ancient forms. From the racial standpoint Esthonians, Letts and
Lithuanians are fair, generally tall, narrow-faced and long-
headed. In the Fellin district, in southern Estland, a very pure
Nordic type is found among peoples of Esthonian speech.
Early Eussian chronicles describe the Letts and Lithuanians
as divided into several tribes." The Yatvags were scattered along
the banks of the Narev. The Lithuanians proper together with
the Shmuds peopled the Niemen valley. Very little dialectical
differences exist between the two. The Shmuds cluster now in
northwestern Kovno without, however, attaining the Baltic shore.
The left bank of the Drina was occupied by the Semigals, while
on the right dwelt the Letgols who were the ancestors in direct
line of the Letts of southern Livonia, The Kors, who lived on
the western shores of the Gulf of Riga, were later to impose their
name on the province of Kurland."
Two of these tribes, the Shmuds and the Lithuanians, escaped
the Teutonic conquest through the inaccessibility of their forested
and marshy retreat. Around them the Kors and the Letts, as
well as the primitive Slav occupants of Prussia, had been subju-
gated by the Knights of the Teutonic Order. The only salvation
for these tribes from Teutonic oppression consisted in their seek-
ing the natural shelter occupied by the two more fortunate groups
of their kinsmen. Behind this natural barrier Lithuanian nation-
ality was bom in the middle of the thirteenth century under the
leadership of Mindvog, an energetic chieftain who insured his
*'A. Eambaud: Histoire de la Russie depuis lea originea juaqu'a nos joura,
Paris, 1914, p. 21.
"Rambaud: op. cit.
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 105
o^vn supremacy by causing the leaders of rival clans to be put to
death. With the help of the Poles the Lithuanians eventually
checked the easterly expansion of the Teutons.
The region occupied by Lithuanians in former times can be
traced today by the distribution of the type of dwelling peculiar to
this people. The ancient area exceeds the borders of the present
linguistic zone. The earliest examples of Lithuanian houses consist
of a single room. The indoor life of a single family was spent
within this one apartment. This primitive habitation grew into
the modern style by the successive addition of rooms. In course
of time a kitchen or a stable was added to the main building.
Sometimes the old type of house stands to this day adjoining
more modern buildings. In such cases it is used as a barn.
The old Aryan of the Lithuanians is in vogue principally along
the Duna and Niemen rivers as well as around Vilna, where this
people are settled in compact masses. In spite of the antiquity of
their language, no texts prior to the sixteenth century are known.
Emigration in the past decade to large Eussian cities, and to
America, has decreased their ranks appreciably. Their number
is now estimated at 3,500,000." In his native land, the Lithuanian
is not on the best of terms with neighboring peoples. He looks
upon the Russian as his political oppressor and upon the Pole as
his hereditary foe. The Lett is regarded with somewhat less
animosity as a rival. The Letts spread inland from the shores of
the Gulf of Eiga and number about 1,300,000. Owing to Polish
influences, many Lithuanians are Catholics, but, in the main, both
Letts and Lithuanians are stanch Lutherans.^' Their land is the
home of religious free thought within orthodox Eussia. German
influence prevails among them on this account, although it is
doubtful whether it extends to the point of their preferring Ger-
man to Eussian rule. Evil memories of the attempts of the
Teutonic Knights to conquer the immemorial seat of the Lettish
and Lithuanian populations survive throughout their forests and
marshes. Neither people has forgotten that its' ancestors were
" The Eussian census of 1897 showed 3,094,469.
" About 50,000 Letts belong to the Greek Church.
i:
106 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
refugees who sought the shelter of their boglands as a last
recourse from Teutonic aggression.
Prior to 1876, the Baltic provinces were ruled by a semi-
autonomous administration headed by a governor-general whose
role was more properly that of a viceroy. German was as much
an official language as Eussian and no restrictions prevented its
use in courts. German schools and a German university were
widely attended. Since that date, however, the Letto-Lithuanian
populations have been deprived of the liberal regime they for-
merly enjoyed and an official "Russification" has been directed
against them. Most of the Lutheran schools were closed by order
of the government and the teaching of German in schools
restricted or prohibited. But to this day the three Baltic prov-
inces of Kurland, Livland and Estland are considered by German
writers as a domain of German culture and Protestant faith con-
trolled by Eussian political and ecclesiastical power.
In the province of Kurland the Germans boast 51,000
resident kinsmen. As a rule this section of the population is
confined to the cities. Eiga, Eeval, Libau, Dorpat and Mitau
contain notable percentages of Germans among their citizens. The
first-named city counts 65,332 of these westerners in its popula-
tion, or over 25 per cent of the total.^°
The Letts have settled mainly in the Kurland peninsula and
southern Livonia. They are also found in the governments of
Kovno, Petrograd and Mohilev. Lithuanians occupy the govern-
ments of Kovno, Vilna, Suvalki and Grodno. No definite bound-
aries between the two peoples can be determined because their
intercourse is constant. The only difference between the two
languages is found in the greater departure of Lettic from the
old Vedic forms.
North of the Letto-Lithuanian group the Esthonians, who are
Finns and speak a Finnish language, occupy a lake-covered area
similar to Finland. In both a granite tableland is the scene of
human activity. In spite of the drawbacks of their natural
" H. Rosen : Die ethnographische Verhaltnisse in den baltischen Provinzen und in
Litauen, Pet. Mitt., Sept. 1915, pp. 329-333.
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 107
environment the Esthonians depend chiefly on agriculture for
sustenance. This industry has attained a high stage of perfection
in their hands and few peoples know how to make their soil yield
a higher return than do these virile northerners.
The number of Esthonians is estimated at about one million,=^
distributed as follows: Esthonia, 365,959; Livonia, 518,594; Gov-
ernment of St. Petersburg, 64,116; Government of Pskov, 25,458;
other parts of Eussia 12,855. Large colonies of Eussians, Ger-
mans and Swedes are settled in the Esthonian province. The
census of 1897 showed Eussians, 18,000'; Germans, 16,000;
Swedes, 5,800.
The number of Jews settled in the province is not high. The
German and Eussian elements compose the nobility. The former
OA\Tied and farmed 52 per cent of the land in 1878. Since that
time, however, facilities have been accorded to the peasants of
the province, mostly Esthonians, to purchase farms and the pro-
portion of native land holdings is gradually increasing.
Confusion of racial minglings complicates the problem of
assigning fixed ethnic place to the Esthonians. That they belong
to the Finnish family is unquestionable. Linguistically they
belong to the Turkish-speaking peoples. Long-headedness pre-
vails among them.^^ These are also the characteristics of the
Livs or Livonians, a Finnish tribe formerly living in Esthonia
and north Livonia, now nearly extinct, but still holding a narrow
strip of forest land along the Baltic at the northern extremity of
Kurland. These Livs are now classed with the Baltic Finns and
probably number less than 2,000 individuals. Their language has
been almost entirely replaced by a Lettish dialect.
The beginning of their history finds the Esthonians pirates of
the Baltic. Danish kings found it hard to subdue them and after
two centuries of struggle sold the Danish crown's rights to the
Kjiights of the Sword in 1346. From this time on German
influence was to become paramount in the province. The condition
of Esthonians in relation to their Teutonic masters was that of
" Russian census of 1897.
" V^. Z. Ripley: The Races of Europe, New York, 1899.
108 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
serfs. By the terms of the treaty of Nystad in 1721 Esthonia
was ceded to Peter the Great by the Swedes, who then exercised
control of the land. Since then it has remained a Russian prov-
ince. Lutheranism, the religion of its people, however, has been
the foundation of much sympathy for German institutions
throughout the province. To combat this feeling, as well as to
eradicate national aspirations, Eussian authorities have resorted
to those harsh and repressive measures which both church
and government have often enforced throughout the Czar's
country.
The Esthonians are noted for their practical turn of mind. A
favorite pastime among them consists of conversing in verse.
They cling tenaciously to their language, the study of which is
actively maintained throughout the land. Two main dialects are
in use. A northern form, known as the Eeval Esthonian, is recog-
nized as the literary language. Writers have succeeded in main-
taining its perfection and beauty. Through their efforts literature
that instills vigor into the national consciousness has sprung into
being around the legends and folk-tales of the region.
With the exception of the Finns all the peoples of north-
western Russia a,re being gradually absorbed by the Slavic mass,
i The Slav's ability to fuse with alien peoples is a conspicuous
^ historical fact. In the Baltic provinces he seldom holds aloof as
does his German rival. A growing spirit of liberalism in Russia,
and the gradual loss of influence of the German nobility, ever
ready to stir the opposition of Baltic peoples against Eussian
institutions, are two factors which have promoted the consolida-
tion of Russian power in its northwestermnost territory. The
Slav's achievement in Baltic regions, during the past three cen-
turies, has consisted in steadily replacing the Teutonic stratum
by a layer of his own kinsmen. Swedes and Germans have either
fallen back or become lost in the midst of Slavic populations. The
movement can hardly be called a migration, but it is a westerly
expansion of most persistent and irresistible character although
never aggressively manifested. As a consequence Russia's north-
western boundary with a reconstituted Poland may be foreseen.
SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC LANGUAGES 109
TABLE I
Population by Goveenments in Finland According to Language, 1910 '
Finnish
Nylands 212,315
Abo o. Bjorneborgs . . . 413,360
Tavastehus 330,190
"^iborgs 479,120
St. Miehels igi 137
Knopio 324,553
Vasa 327,828
Uleaborgs 292,642
Per
cent
585.1
866.4
986.6
969.7
996.0
997.4
746.4
988.8
Swedish
149,173
63,503
4,356
7,872
670
664
111,094
1,629
Per
cent
411.1
133.1
13.0
15.9
3.5
2.0
253.0
5.5
Others
1,391
240
119
7,116
93
191
262
1,679
Per
cent
3.8
0.5
0.4
14.4
0.5
0.6
0.6
5.7
Finnish
Swedish
Easslan
Grcrman
Others
TABLE II
Finland : Population According to Language, 1865-1910
1865
1,580,000
256,000
4,000
1,200
2,045
Per
cent
867.2
138.9
2.2
0.6
1.1
1880
1,756,381
294,876
4,165
1,720
2,263
Per
cent
852.9
148.2
2.0
0.8
1.1
1890
2,048,545
322,6M
5,795
1,674
1,522
Per
cent
860.7
135.6
2.4
0.7
0.6
1900
2,352,990
349,733
5,989
1,925
1,975
Per
cent
867.5
128.9
2.2
0.7
0.7
1910
2,571,145
338,961
7,339
1,794
1,968
Pel-
cent
880.2
116.0
2.5
0.6
0.7
TABLE III
Finland : Disteibution op Population bt Language and by Religion, Decembeb
31, 1910 ■'
Linguistic
Greek
Roman
group
Lutheran
Methodist
Baptist
Catholic
Catholic
Tota
Finnish .
. 2,531,014
198
1,086
38,749
98
2,571,145
Swedish .
335,496
362
2,780
251
72
338,961
Russian .
67
2
—
7,156
114
7,339
German .
1,758
1
—
10
25
1,794
Lapps . . .
1,660
—
—
—
—
1,660
Others . . .
184
1
564
3,866
—
113
422
298
Total ..
2,870,179
46,166
2,921,197
' Statisko Arsbok for Finland 1914, Helsingfors, 1915, pp. 45-46.
' Bidrag till Finlands Ofaciella Statistik, VI, Befolkningsstatistik, 45, Finlands
Folkmangd den 31 December, 1910 (enligt FSrsamlingarnas Kyrkobocker), Helsingfors,
1915, p. 127.
110 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
TABLE IV
Finland: Relative Distribution by Languages of the Urban and Rural
Population op the Governments of Nyland, Abo and Bjoeneboeg, and or
Vasa, in Percentages '
Urban
Rural
Finnish
Swedish
Others
Finnish
Swedish
Others
Nylands
1880 ...
315.7
608.2
76.1
532.8
466.6
0.6
1890 ...
436.2
536.2
27.1
545.1
454.0
0.9
1900 ...
489.7
488.2
22.1
570.9
428.7
0.4
1910 ...
579.7
411.8
8.5
589.1
410.6
0.3
Abo and
Bjbrnehorg
1880 ...
670.4
303.0
26.6
847.6
152.3
0.1
1890 ...
700.0
292.8
7.2
855.7
144.2
0.1
1900 ...
757.8
239.5
2.7
864.4
135.5
0.1
1910 ...
792.8
204.4
2.8
880.2
119.7
0.1
Vasa
695.3
304.7
[0.02]
1880 ...
195.7
800.5
3.8
1890 ...
269.6
725.4
5.0
720.3
279.6
0.1
1900 ...
359.6
637.9
2.5
738.8
261.1
0.1
1910 ...
482.4
512.5
5.1
770.9
228.9
0.2
^ Bidrag till Finlands Offlciella Statistik, VI, Befolkningastatistik, 45, Finlands
Folkmangd den 31 December, 1910 (enligt Forsamllngarnas Krykohocker ) , Helsingfors,
1915, pp. 124-125.
CHAPTER VI
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH
South of the Baltic shores the lanbroken expanse now peopled
by Germans merges insensibly into the western part of the great
Eussian plain. This extensive lowland is featureless and provides
no natural barriers between the two empires it connects. The
area of Polish speech alone intervenes as a buffer product of the
basin of the middle Vistula. The region is a silt-covered lowland,
the bed of a former glacial lake. It has been peopled by Slavs
for over a thousand years. Upon its open stretches there was no
lack of food and no reason therefore for migration. The develop-
ment of Poland rests primarily on this physical foundation.
Added advantages of good land and water communication with the
rest of the continent contributed powerfully to the spread of
Polish power, which at one time extended from Baltic shores to
the Black sea.
In the ninth century the Slavic tribes of the Polish and western
Russian regions differed but slightly in language and customs.
Dialects spoken in the upper Vistula basin and in the upper
Dnieper valley presented a degree of affinity which has disap-
peared from the Russian and Polish languages as spoken in our
time. Differences between the two groups increased as they came
respectively under eastern and western influences. Intercourse
between the western group and the Slavs settled in the upper
Elbe region produced a Polish contingent, while contact of the
eastern body with Tatars created the main Russian group.
Religious differences helped to widen the breach between these
two branches of the Slavic family. The western body was natu-
rally inclined to follow the counsels emanating from the Vatican.
The eastern looked to Byzantium for spiritual guidance. These
were strictly geographical relations. Eventual divergence into
111
112 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
separate nationalities originated in the conflicts of religious views
and material interests among the leading members in each group.
Fig. 38 — Sketch map of eastern Europe showing the areal classification of
Eussians into Little Russians (dotted area), Great Russians (diagonally ruled) and
White Russians (cross-ruled area). The black dots indicate Masurian localities. The
dotted circles show Hungarian cities peopled by Ruthenians.
The Polish language is spoken at present within a quadri-
lateral the angles of which are found at the Jablunka pass in the
Carpathians,^ Wissek north of the Netze near the Posen boundary,
*L. Niederle: La race slave, Paris, 1911, pp. 71-74. A digest in English of
Ms conclusions will be found in Ann. Rept. Smiths. Inst., 1910, Washington, ISll,
pp. 599-612.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 113
Suwalki in. the eastern Masurian region and Sanok on the San.
A northern extension is appended to this linguistic region in the
foml of a narrow band which detaches itself from the main mass
above Bromberg and reaches the Baltic coast west of Danzig. In
sum, the valley of the Vistula, from the Carpathians to the Baltic,
constitutes the field of Polish humanity and institutions. In
spite of the remoteness of the period when they first occu-
pied the land, these children of the plains never attempted
to scale mountainous slopes. The solid wall of the western
Carpathians, between Jablunka and Sanok, with its abrupt
slopes facing the north, forms the southern boundary of the
country.
This region, in the midst of the diversity of surface of the
European continent, has produced a distinct language in the
varied stock of European vernaculars. Nevertheless there is no
similarity of physical type among individuals speaking Polish.
Marked anthropological differences are found between the Poles
of Eussian Poland and of Gralicia.^ They correspond to the
classification of northern Slavs into two main groups, the north-
ernmost of which comprises the Poles of Eussian Poland, together
with iWhite and Great Eussians. Traces of Finnish intermixture
can still be detected among them, in spite of the process of
Slavicization which they have undergone. The Poles of Galicia,
on the other hand, like the Euthenians and Little Eussians, reveal
mingling of the autochthonous populations with Asiatic and
Mongoloid invaders of Europe."
Delimitation of the area of the Polish speech is more easily
' J. Talko-Hryncevicz : Les Polonais du royamne de Pologne d'aprfes les donn€ea
anthropologiquea recueillies jusqu'a present, Bull. Int. Acad. So. Oracovie, Classe
des Be. Math, et Nat. Bull. So. Nat., June 1912, pp. 574-582.
« Southern Poland was overrun by Mongolians during their third invasion of
Europe. The Asiatics were attacked near Szydlow on March 18, 1241, by an army of
Polish noblemen recruited from Sandomir and Cracow. The defeat of the Christiana
enabled the invaders to plunder the latter city, besides opening the way for incursions
farther north in the course of which they penetrated into Silesia by way of Eatibor
and marched toward Breslau. Near Liegnitz an army of 30,000 Europeans was
defeated on April 9th of the same year. These disasters were invariably followed by
a westerly spread of the Tatar scourge. Traces of its passage can still be detected
among the Poles.
114 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
made in theory than on the field. The transition to alien lan-
guages is rarely well defined. Such detailed work as has been
undertaken in western Europe, where the predominant lan-
guage in small villages and hamlets is often determined, does
not exist for eastern sections of the continent. The zeal of
German and Russian agents of nationalist propaganda aggra-
vates the problem. "Within Galicia the boundary line passes
west of Sanok and Eadymno.* Its southern extension skirts
the foothills through Rymanow, Dukla, Zmigrod and Gry-
bow. Thence to Jablunka pass it merges with the political
boundary.
In its western section the physical boundary coincides for all
practical purposes with the ethnographic line of division. The
Gorales mountaineers have never aspired to cross the divide of
the Beskid mountains. The result is that the gentler slopes of
the southern side are peopled altogether by Slovaks, while habit
and custom have prevented the Podhalians, or Polish shepherds
inhabiting the high valley of the Tatra, from leading their flocks
to the southern grazing slopes which form part of the Hungarian
domain.'
Changes in the aspect of the land resulting from human
activity provide an easily observable boundary between the terri-
tory inhabited by Poles and that occupied by Ruthenians. The
former, proceeding from the Vistulian lowland, are now scattered
over a territory in which deforestation and large areas of tilled
soil bespeak prolonged occupancy. The latter, coming from the
Pontic steppes, reached the Carpathian slopes much later than
their western neighbors. Consequently only 20 per cent of the
surface of the western Carpathians is now available as prairie
and pasture land, whereas the percentage of grazing land in the
* The Poles constitute the majority of the population in many cities of eastern
or Russian Galicia. In Niederle's list Bobrka, Muszyna, Sanok, Lisko, Sambor,
Peremysl, Eawaruska, Belz, Zolkiew, Grodek, Ceshanow, Stryj, Kalusz, Stanislawoff,
Kolomya, Tarnopol, Husiatyn, Buczacz, Sokal and Trembowla are credited with over
50 per cent Poles in their population. The predominance of German in the cities
of Biala, Sczerzec, Dolina, Bolechow, Nadwoma, Kossow, Kuty, Zablotow and Brody
is attributed by the same authority to the Jewish element present.
•B. Eeclus: G6ogr. Univ., Vol. 3, Europe Centrale, Paris, 1878, p. 396.
^V ^
4 '
w 5 ^ ' • -r
4;w !
's ,
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 115
eastern section of the mountain chain is twice as much.* The
area of plowed land in the western region covers between 40 and
50 per cent of the surface. In the east it barely varies between
5 and 10 per cent. Again the Polish section is practically clear
of the forests, which cover, in contrast, from 50 to 60 per cent of
the eastern Carpathians. Similar differences can be noted in the
valleys up to an altitude of about 2,300 feet. Within them the
proportion of plowed land constitutes 88 per cent of the surface
in the Polish section while in the Ruthenian valleys the propor-
tion of plowed land does not exceed 15 per cent.
On the southwestern border a number of localities in the
Teschen country are claimed alike by Czechs and Poles. The
increasing use of Polish and German, however, tends to invalidate
the claims of Bohemians.'' A transition zone between Czech and
Polish exists here and is characterized by a local dialect of mixed
language. In the western Beskid mountains Polish and Moravian
are divided at the Jablunka pass. The ancient duchies of
Teschen, Auschwitz and Zator were situated in this i^egion and at
the southern end of the long Slavo-Germanic borderland. The
two last-named duchies were incorporated with Poland in the
fifteenth century. German language and customs disappeared
from their territory soon after this fusion.
This important district is in every aspect a zone of transition.
Its climate becomes alternately continental or oceanic according
to the prevalence of winds from east or west. The change occurs
sometimes in a few weeks. Occasionally it is sudden and atmos-
pheric conditions have been known to have changed completely
from one stage to the other in the course of a single day.^ During
periods of oceanic climate, the temperature often rises above
0° C. Snows melt and spring temperature prevails during
' E. Romer : Esquisse climatique de I'ancienne Pologne, Bui. de la Soc. Vmid. des
8c. Wat., 5e Sfir., Vol. 46, June, 1910, p. 231.
' J. Zemrich : Deutsche und Slaven in den osterreichischen SUdetenlandern,
Deutsche Erde, Vol. 2, 1903, pp. 1-4.
' Limite des civilisations dans les Beskides occidentaux, Ann. de Oiogr., Vol. 17,
1908, Feb. 15, pp. 130-132. Cf. also E. Hanslik: Kulturgrenze und Kulturzyklus in
den polnischen Westbeskiden, Pet. Mitt., Erganzungsheft No. 158, 1907.
116 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
January and February. Again sometimes the east wind brings
all the signs of winter in April. In summer western breezes bring
rain and dryness prevails when eastern winds blow. As a result
of this semi-continental climate wheat crops on the Polish side
are from three to six weeks later than on the Moravian side,
German immigrants invaded this region in the eighth century.
Their language held its own until the fourteenth, after which it is
represented only by linguistic islands dotting here and there the
sea of Slavs. It is, however, stiU possible to distinguish settle-
ments of German origin from the old Polish villages. The latter
are situated on high ground or well-protected sites. They are
generally characterized by the existence of a central open space
and the random distribution of houses and lanes. The German
villages, on the other hand, are found at the heads of valleys and
usually occupy a rectangular site spreading over the two banks
of a river. Each habitation has its own land appurtenance
extending rearwards towards the valley slopes. The roads
follow natural depressions. Taken as a whole, these German
villages are admirably molded on the relief of the sur-
face.
The western linguistic boundary of Poland extends through
the German provinces of Silesia and Posen. Here a gradual
replacement of the language by German since the sixteenth cen-
tury is noticeable. At that time the Oder constituted the dividing
line, south of the point of the confluence of the Nissa between
Brieg and Oppeln. As late as 1790 the population of Breslau
was largely Polish. Today over 75 per cent of the inhabitants of
the city and the neighboring towns and villages are Germans.
The district north and south constitutes in fact an area of lin-
guistic reclamation.
The westernmost extension of Polish occurs in Posen, at the
base of the provincial projection into Brandenburg. Around
Bomst the percentage of Polish inhabitants is as high as 75 per
cent. The line extends northwards to Bimbaum, after which it
assumes a northeasterly direction. In spite of this occidental
reach, however, the area of Polish speech within German bound-
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 117
aries is broken in numerous places by German enclaves of vary-
ing size."
In western Prussia, the Poles form compact inclusions in the
German mass and attain the Baltic shores, where they occupy the
entire western coast of the Gulf of Danzig. From Oliva and
Danzig the line extends to Dirschau (Tezew) and crosses the
Vistula about six miles below the city. It then strikes east and
turns southwards towards Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) and Grau-
denz. Proceeding due east from here, the boundary passes south
of Eylau, the southern territory of the Masurian lakes, and on
into Russian territory, until Suwalki is reached. The eastern
frontier begins at this point and is prolonged southwards, accord-
ing to Slav authorities, through Augustow, Bielostok," Surash,
Bielsk, Sarnaki, Krsanostaw and Tomaschow.
The advance of the area of Polish speech, in the form of a
tongue of land, to the Baltic coast, is a proof of intimate depend-
ence between Polish nationality and the basin of the Vistula.
This northernmost section of the territory in which Polish is
spoken, lies entirely within Prussian territory. Centuries of
Teutonic influence failed, however, to eradicate completely Slavic
language or customs in the valley of the great river. Between
Thorn and Danzig, on the left bank of the Vistula, it is estimated
that 650,000 Poles are scattered. On the right, the Prussian
districts of Lobau, Strassburg and Briesen are centers of intense
Polish life and culture. The city of Danzig itself, with a Polish
element of only 10 per cent, still gives strong evidence of its
Polish institutions. Its monuments are memorials of Poland's
history, and many of its families bear Polish names even though
their members use German as a vernacular.
Originally a free town, Danzig owes its predominant German
population to the inflow of traders of this nationality who have
swarmed within its walls since the sixteenth century. The city,
•p. Langhans: Nationalitatenkarte der Provinz Schlesien, 1:500,000. Sonder-
karte No. 1 in Deutsche Erde, 1906; id.: Nationalitatenkarte der Provinz Ostpreussen,
1:500,000. Sonderkarte No. 1 in Deutsche Erde, 1907.
'" L. Niederle: op. eit., p. 73; but cf. H. Praesent: Russisch Polen, etc., Pet.
Vol. 60, Dec. 1914, p. 257.
118 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
standing like a sentinel at the mouth of the Vistula, is in every
sense a creation of the river. Traffic from Poland's innermost
districts flows towards the country's great waterway to be finally
landed on the wharves of Danzig. Prior to the partition of
Poland, the city was nominally a dependency of that country,
but its inhabitants had been granted special trading privileges as
well as the right of governing themselves. The city's commercial
relations were highly favored by such a regime and business men
from the surrounding country were not slow to realize the excep-
tional advantages which settlement in the city afforded. By the
end of the seventeenth century its population consisted largely of
German merchants and their dependents. Frederick 11 with char-
acteristic far-sightedness realized the extent to which this seaport,
together with the river city of Thorn, controlled the traffic between
Brandenburg and old Prussia. He did not succeed however in
annexing the two cities to his dominions, for it is only since 1815
that they have formed part of Prussian territory.
The struggle for predominance between Poles and Germans
along Poland's western boundary is fully nine centuries old. In
the sixteenth century, Slavonic tribes had become widely dis-
tributed between the Oder and Elbe, in the course of westerly
expansions which correspond to south and west migrations of
Teutonic peoples." Place names bestowed by the early Germans
in the district between these two rivers have practically disap-
peared under the layer of Slavic appellations conferred between
the second and fourth centuries." The period between 800 and
1300 witnessed the inception of a slow and powerful Germanic
drive directed towards the east. Convents and lay feudal estab-
lishments participated in this historical movement. Eepeated
German aggressions brought about the earliest union of all Polish
tribes into one nation at the beginning of the eleventh century.
It proved, however, of little avail before the fighting prowess of
the Knights of the Teutonic Order, who, by the first half of the
*' A. C. Haddon: The Wanderings of Peoples, Cambridge, 1912, p. 48.
^' F. Curschmann : Die deutsche Ortsnamen in nordoatdeutschen Kolonialgebiet,
Forsch. z. deut. Landes- u. Volksk., Vol. 19, No. 2, 1910, pp. 91-183.
The Amerxan Geographical Sociefy of Xew York
Frcnders of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, PI. IV
PopulatioTL :
■ over 7.5% Poles
• » 50% „
„ 75 "o Germans
o „ SO"'.} „
H data nnapoildble
lODS ocerWO.OOO in/uib
:ELBINfffh)m SaOOOtolOOOOO.
Mlawal
Dolxig
' I les3 than 50. 000
\accordinff to size.
^ poliMcal boundanes
administrative "boundanes ^j. y -/
Z3
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 119
thirteentli century, had succeeded in adding all Wend territory to
Teutonic dominions. This early and northerly phase of the
"Drang nach Osten" brought the Germans to the coast of the
Grulf of Finland. Their advance was rendered possible in part
by the presence of Tatar hordes menacing southern Poland.
Teutonic progress was also facilitated by the defenseless condition
which marks an open plain. Between the Oder and the Vistula
the slightly undulating lowland is continuous and devoid of
barriers to communication which the interposition of uplifted or
uninhabitable stretches of territory might have provided.
Polish history has been affected both favorably and adversely
by this lack of natural bulwarks. The former extension of Polish
sovereignty to the shores of the Baltic and Black seas, and to
within 50 miles of Berlin and the central plateau of Eussia, was
a result of easy travel on a plain. This advantage was more than
offset by the evident facility with which alien races were able to
swarm into the vast featureless expanse forming Polish territory.
The dismemberment of the country is in part the result of the
inability of the Poles to resort to the protection of a natural
fortress, where a prolonged stand against the aggression of foes
might have been made.
At the end of the tenth century the entire Polish plain acknowl-
edged the rule of Boleslas the Great, a prince of the Piast
dynasty. Kiev then paid a yearly tribute to the Polish crown.
A period of internal division follows Boleslas 's rule, but in the
beginning of the fourteenth century Poland was once more united
under the scepter of King Ladislas. Prom 1386 to 1772, a period
of almost four centuries, Polish frontiers remained remarkably
stable. Their fluctuations were slight when compared to the
changes which occurred in other European countries during the
same period.
At one period of its history Poland was barred from its Baltic
sea frontier in the north. In the fourteenth century the invasion
of the Teutonic Knights temporarily cut off the country from the
sea; but apart from this interruption Poland has always had
access to the sea to which the drainage of the land naturally led.
120 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Under the first members of the Piast dynasty the Poles had con-
trol of the Baltic coast." When, in the thirteenth century, the
Poles called upon the Knights of the Teutonic Order for assistance
in subjugating Prussia, the two parties agreed to equal division
of the conquered territory. The successes of the Teutonic
Knights, however, emboldened their leaders to claim more land
for their share. A state of war ensued between the two former
allies until by the treaty of Thorn, in 1466, the Teutonic Knights
acknowledged Polish sovereignty. This brought Pomerelia, or
Prussian Pomerania, within Polish territory. In 1525 the Prus-
sian districts east of the Vistula became part of the duchy of
Albert of Brandenburg and were thus surrounded entirely by
Polish territory; but that part of Prussia which extends west
of the Vistula remained an integral portion of Poland until
1772.
In the fighting which marked the relations between Poland
and Turkey in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Poles
succeeded in extending their southern frontiers to within a hun-
dred miles of the Black Sea and in carrying their sphere of
influence to the sea itself. The occupation of Kaminiec by the
Turks was short-lived. In general Poland's frontier on the side
of the ancient Eumanian principalities remained unchanged dur-
ing the last four centuries of the country's sovereign exist-
ence.
In the fifteenth century, Poland was the dominating Slavic
state. In 1386 it had been united to Lithuania by Wladislas
Jagellon, the first prince of the famous dynasty bearing his name.
The country at that time was protected from Turkish attacks
by "Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. Russia was its rival
for the possession of Lithuania ; Austria for that of Hungary and
Bohemia. Prussia and Livonia were also claimed by Poland from
the Order of the Teutonic Knights. The weakness of the country
lay in the jealousy of the two peoples of diverse speech from
which its ruling body was drawn. The Jagellons were Lithuanian
princes. They favored the claims of their countrymen, who pre-
"' Marquis de Noailles: Les frontlSres de la Pologne, Paris, 1915, p. 21.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 121
f erred the laws of their native land to the Polish legislation which
was being forced on them. The Poles likewise had their griev-
ances against the Lithuanians. During the rule of Casimir IV
he was frequently taken to task by his countrymen for spending
"summer, fall and winter in Lithuania."
Poland's easterly expansion with its prolonged and finally
disastrous conflicts with Russia began after the battle of Grun-
wald in 1410. Although the Poles then inflicted a decisive defeat
on the Teutonic Knights, the western provinces they had lost could
not be regained. In the eastern field the basin of the Dnieper
merged without abrupt transition into that of the Vistula, just as
the basin of the Oder on the west formed the western continuation
of the Baltic plain. Four centuries of struggle with Eussia
ensued until the Muscovite Empire absorbed the greater portion
of Poland.
The German element is slowly spreading eastward throughout
the eastern provinces of Prussia which once formed part of the
kingdom of Poland. Emigration of Poles to central and western
Germany partly accounts for the German gain. From the larger
cities of eastern Germany and more especially from Posen,
Bromberg and Danzig, a steady stream of emigrants make their
way towards the industrial centers of the west, where they find
higher wages and generally improved economic conditions. The
German government favors this expatriation of its Slav subjects.
None of the vexations to which the Poles are subjected by govern-
ment officials on their native plains are tolerated in the occidental
provinces of the Empire. The result is that notable colonies of
Poles have sprung up in the vicinity of industrial centers like
Diisseldorf or Arnsberg, in the Munster district and the Ehine
provinces. From a racial standpoint, these Poles are practically
indistinguishable from Teutonic types. Their presence in Ehenish
Prussia and "Westphalia is no menace to German unity. They
are easily assimilated; the second generation, speaking only
German, forgets its antecedents and becomes submerged in the
mass of the native population. Slav settlements are particularly
numerous and dense along the Ehine-Herne canal between Duis-
122 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
burg and Dortmund." They abound in the coal-producing
Emscher valley, where their inhabitants form one-fifth of the
population. The Polish settlers favor the flatlands and occupy
them in preference to hilly regions. They do not confine their
work to mining, but provide labor for the industrial plants
clustered around the coal-fields. In the beginning of 1911 the
number of Polish miners in the 19 mining districts of the ' ' circle ' '
of Dortmund exceeded that of any other nationality.
The heavy preponderance of Poles in certain administrative
divisions of eastern Germany has, nevertheless, been unimpaired
by the Polish emigration. In the province of Posen the German-
speaking inhabitants still constitute the minority. As a rule
Germans emigrate more readily than Poles or Masurians in East
Prussia.^^ In the city of Posen, Polish nationality was asserting
itself with increasing vigor year by year, before the European
war. The percentage of Poles grew from about 51 in 1890 to 56
in 1900. Ten years later it exceeded 57. Correspondingly the
German percentage fell from 50 in 1890 to under 42 in 1910.
Posen, of all German provinces, contains the largest number
of Poles. 62 per cent of its 2,100,000 inhabitants belong to this
nationality. Within provincial boundaries the process of German-
izing the people has been carried on most actively in the district
of Bromberg. The reason is obvious. The region is the connect-
ing link between Germany proper and the province of Old
Prussia, which forms an enclave of German speech within the
territory of the Polish language. The effort to connect the ancient
cradle of Prussia with the motherland is apparent in the figures
which reveal the percentage of Poles in the intermediary land.
The district of Bromberg numbers 53 per cent of Poles in a
population of 750,000. In the provincial district of Posen, how-
ever, the percentage of Poles attains 68 for a population of
1,350,000.
" K. Closterhalfen : Die Polen in niederrheiniacli-weatfalisch Industriebezirk 1905,
1:200,000. PI. 16 in Deutsche Erde, Vol. 10, 1911.
"A. Eaahe: Die Abwanderungsbewegung in den ostlichen Provinzen Preussens.
Einleitung und Tail I. Die Provinz Oat-Preussen. Berlin, 1910.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 123
The German element of the province is confined mainly to the
cities, the country being peopled largely by Poles. Often the
proportion of this native population attains as high a figure as
91 per cent and it is rare to find it below 75 per cent. Apart
from the German administration of the province, Posen thus
remains Polish to the core. Its nobility and landed gentry consist
mostly of Poles who have strenuously opposed German encroach-
ments by abstaining from commercial or financial intercourse
with their rulers. They founded their own banks, in order to be
independent of German institutions; and by means of native
agricultural associations they came to the aid of Polish farmers,
who were thus saved from having recourse to German colonization
banks chartered for the purpose of buying out Polish landowners.
The influence of the Polish element is best shown by the fact that
eleven Polish representatives are delegated by its population to
the Reichstag, out of a body of fifteen sent by the province.
We thus see that the Poles scattered in the eastern section of
Germany constitute the largest foreign-speaking element in the
Empire's population. Their number is estimated by Niederle at
3,450,000. German census returns for 1900 give 3,086,489. The
percentage of Jews in German Poland is high, particularly in the
urban areas. The practice of census takers is to classify them with
the German or Polish population according to their vernacular.
In Russia the last (1897) available census figures report the
existence of 1,267,194 Jews ^^ scattered throughout the Polish
provinces. This represents 13.48 per cent of the population of
Russian Poland. Here, as elsewhere, they are rarely engaged in
agricultural pursuits but show a tendency to invade prosperous
towns and cities."
"°N. Troinitsky: Premier recensement gSnfiral de la population de I'empire de la
Russie, 1897. Vols. 1 and 2, Petrograd, 1905.
" The Jews cluster especially in the eastern governments of Warsaw, Lomsha and
Siedlez, where their percentage varies between 15.6 and 16.4. This ratio is lower in
the southern and western administrative divisions. In Kalish it reaches only 7.2 per
cent and is reduced to 6.3 per cent in Petrokow. In the cities the Jews constitute on
an average slightly over a third of the population, although here again they are
more numerous in the east. Cf. D. AitofF: Peuples et langues de la Russie, Ann. de
G^ogr., Vol. 15, May 1909, pp. 9-25.
124 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The Polish Jews, speaking a vernacular of their own, and
conscious of the advantage derived from their number, live apart
from the Poles, with whom they are generally at odds on economic
questions. The presence of this racially alien element has often
assisted Eussian administrators in their policy of holding Polish
urban populations well in hand by pitting one people against the
other. Jewish parties wield considerable influence in the local
politics of Polish cities. They are openly anti-Slavic and side
with the German inhabitants, from whom they receive guidance
regarding policy and conduct. The strength of the Polish vote
was felt in the 1912 elections for the Duma when Lodz sent a
Jewish representative to the national councU, while in Warsaw
where they form 38 per cent of the population they succeeded in
forcing the election of a Polish socialist who in that same year
had failed to obtain a majority of the city's Polish votes.
The confinement of Jews within the pale of Poland dates from
the time of the first partition, when an edict signed by Catherine
II was proclaimed, forbidding them to emigrate from the annexed
territory into Russia proper. Since then every succeeding Rus-
sian monarch maintained this policy of segregation until, at the
time of Poland's last partition, the ten governments into which
the unfortunate nation was divided became the only territory in
which the Jews were tolerated.
This arrangement was made largely because of the Jew's well-
known aptitude for commerce and through fear that the unso-
phisticated and large-hearted Russian mujik was no match for
him. The state of Poland prior to its dismemberment made such
measures imperative for the Russian government. The Poles
were either landowners, tillers of the soil or soldiers. Few
engaged in trade. The country's commerce was in the hands of
Germans or Jews. Poland's weakness in the presence of foreign
aggression was due to this state of economic inferiority, no less
than to her lack of natural frontiers on the east and west.
The large proportion of the Jewish element in Poland may
be traced ultimately to the very circumstances which impart dis-
tinctiveness to the Polish region. It was inevitable that the Jew
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 125
should find cordial welcome in the broad drainage valley of the
Vistula and its tributaries, tenanted by a landed nobility at the
one end of the social scale and a retinue of serfs at the other.
Between these two classes the Jew supplied a needed trading
element and thrived. Polish kings accordingly adopted the policy
of inviting and protecting Jews within their domains as early as
in the fourteenth century, a time when the Jews were being
expelled in hundreds from other nations. Emigration of the Jews
from Germany during the period of Catholic persecution was
particularly heavy. This movement helped to increase the number
of Jews in Poland.
The position of the Jews in Poland varies, therefore, according
to the circumstances which determined their immigration. They
may be classed into two groups. The descendants of early set-
tlers feel the welding influence of time and are united with the
Poles by the bond of historical association and of common inter-
ests. The newcomers, mostly refugees from Eussian cities, form
an unassimilated nucleus whose tendencies and temper differ
materially from the aims that actuate the native population,
whether Polish or Jewish. Eacial animosity in Poland is chiefly
directed against these newcomers. It has reached an acute stage
in recent years, owing to the strenuous efforts of Poles to control
their country's industry and commerce in face of the menace of
German economic absorption.
In Galicia the Jews are competitors of the Poles. Full advan-
tage has been taken by Austrian statesmen of the existence of a
powerful clique of Jewish financiers in Vienna in order to obtain
Jewish support against Slavic aspirations. Jewish capitalists
were allowed to take part in the development of natural resources
as weU as to purchase large estates. At present fully 20 per cent
of the larger private domains in Galicia are owned by Jews." In
the cities also the Jewish element has acquired considerable
influence. This is especially observable in Lemberg and Cracow.
The bulk of Galician Jews, however, are poor and uneducated.
^' G. Bienaimfi: La Pologne ficonomique, Bull. Soo. de Giogr. Oomm. de Paris,
Vol. 37, Nos. 4-6, April-June, 1915, pp. 128-164.
126 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
They have little sympathy with the ideals of the Christian
element, from whom they hold aloof. In the social relations of
the three main elements of the Galician population, f oles and
Jews generally unite to exploit Ruthenians. The Jews appar-
ently are unable to thrive on the Poles. In the Polish sections of
Galicia they constitute only 7 per cent of the population, whereas
in Ruthenian Galicia this proportion rises to 13 per cent.
German Poland, from Upper Silesia to the Gulf of Danzig,
contains about 4,000,000 Poles. In Upper Silesia, they constitute
61 per cent of the population and number about 1,300,000. This
majority has been maintained, in the face of aggressive Germani-
zation, since the first half of the fourteenth century. The city of
Posen contains 170,000 inhabitants, of whom 58 per cent are
Poles. The farming districts of the province contain only about
10 per cent of Germans. Over 900,000 Poles live in East and
West Prussia. In this section of Germany, they form a suffi-
ciently compact body to be able to send representatives chosen
from their own people to the Landstag and Reichstag. The
western coast of the Gulf of Danzig and the banks of the lower
Vistula are almost exclusively Polish. A solid wedge of Polish
humanity is here interposed between the Germans of Pomerania
and of East Prussia. This thorough isolation of an important
body of Germans may became a thorny problem in any eventual
settlement of Polish boundaries.
Upper Silesia is the best endowed section of Polish territory.
The grayish soil which forms the surface of the Oder valley is
eminently fitted for cereal and beet cultivation and the farmers
of this soil are generally Poles. They often represent 90 per
cent of the rural population.^' In the cities and generally speaking
in the industrial field they are laborers. Capital and the manage-
ment of factories and of mines are in German hands.
The most interesting feature of the clash between Germans
and Poles in Upper Silesia is found in the failure of the Germans
in their efforts to force their language upon an alien people.
Forty years ago, Polish noblemen were apt to blush at the
"G. Bienaimg: op. eit., p. 139.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 127
tliouglit of their Slavic origin in the presence of the German
rulers of their land. But the vexations inflicted on them by
Prussian administration, since the formation of the German
Empire, have bred a spirit of defiance and revolt. As a result
Silesian Poles were never so conscious of nationality as they are
today. They band together in order to resist Germanization
more effectively. Small tradesmen, petty farmers and profes-
sional men organize themselves into bodies to which individual
interests are intrusted whenever German methods become intol-
erable. But the greatest asset of Polish nationality in this fight
against annihilation is its high birth rate. This has also led to
the emigration of Poles to the industrial districts of "Westphalia,
the coal districts of the Lens basin in France and to America.
This flow of Poles comes mainly from the provinces of Posen and
"West Prussia, where sandy inert soils cannot accommodate rapidly
increasing numbers.
In addition to drastic educational measures, compelling study
of their language, the Germans have resorted to wholesale buying
of Polish estates in the section of the kingdom of Poland which
fell to the lot of Prussia when the country was partitioned. A
colonization law (Ansiedelnnggesetz), decreed on April 26, 1886,
placed large funds at the disposal of the German government for
the purchase of land owned by Poles and the establishment of
colonies of German settlers.-" The measure was artificial and
proved valueless against economic conditions prevailing in the
regions affected. A decrease in the percentage of the Polish
population of the estates acquired by purchase was rarely
brought about. The new settlers could rarely compete with
natives. The most tangible result consisted in mere substitution
of German for Polish ownership. On most of the large estates
the mass of laborers and dependents remained Poles as they had
been before. The breach between Poles and Germans Avas
" A law passed in 1908 authorizes the State to acquire land in the administrative
circles in which German interests require development of colonization. B. Auerbach:
La germanisation de la Pologne Prussienne. La loi d'expropriation, Rev. Polit. et
Partem., Vol. 57, July 1908, pp. 109-125.
128 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
widened by the change of masters. Nevertheless, although results
corresponding to the efforts and money expended were not
obtained, the measure has contributed to the advance of Teu-
tonism in northeastern Europe.'^
The purpose of this colonization is to redeem Prussian soil
from Polish ownership. The "Mittelstandskasse" of Breslau,
and the Peasant's Bank of Danzig, are financial institutions
directly interested in this work of Germanization. These banks
work hand in hand with the state. Eesults of this activity can
be observed in East Prussia where the German element has
acquired preponderance in 32 communes, through the interven-
tion of German capital. A common practice of the German loan
societies is to assume the liabilities of German farmers. In many
cases the peasants have been provided with funds to carry on
their agricultural operations. In Western Prussia 39 estates with
about 14,000 inhabitants have passed into German hands." Often
it has been impossible to induce peasants from other parts of
Germany to settle in the Polish provinces, and the state has
resorted to the importation of German peasants from the old
German settlements in Eussia, Galicia and Bosnia.
German colonization in Polish provinces has been accompanied
by increase and expansion of urban centers. The province of Posen,
which now claims 151 cities,^^ is a typical instance. The colonists'
cities founded by Germans are readily recognized by their
peculiar configuration. Almost all have been buUt on the same
plan. A four-sided market-place generally constitutes the
nucleus of the urban tract. Main avenues diverge from the
angles of the central quadrilateral. Lateral streets extend
" p. Langhans : Nationalitatenkarte der Provinz ScUesien, 1 : 500,000. Sonder-
karte No. 1 in Deutsche Erde, 1906. P. Langhans: Nationalitatenkarte der Provinz
Ostpreussen, 1:500,000. Sonderkarte No. 2 in Deutsche Erde, 1907. Die Provinzen
Posen und Westpreussen unter besonderer Beriickaichtlgung der Ansiedlungagtiter und
Ansiedlung, Staatsdomanen und Staatsforsten nach dem Stande von 1 Januar 1911,
Deutsche Erde, Vol. 10, Taf. 1, 1911.
'' M. Loesener: Besitzfestigung in der Preussischen Ostmark. Deutsche Erde, Vol.
10, 1911, pp. 3-8.
" Dalchow : Die Stadte des Warthelandea, I. Teil, Ein Beitrag zur Siedlungskimde
und zur Landeskunde der Provinz Posen. Leipzig, 1910.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 129
parallel to the market sides and at right angles to the main
arteries.
Against the tightening hold of the Germans on their land, the
Poles can offer only limited resistance. But their counteracting
efforts are not devoid of value. They have taken advantage of
the high prices, consequent upon the sales of the land which the
government has forced on them, to buy new estates. Thanks to
the high rate of birth among Poles, the proportion of Poles living
in German Poland to the rest of the population remains station-
ary, in spite of German immigration or Polish emigration.
Cooperative associations of farmers, of traders or industrial
operators, present a united front in all dealings of their members
with Germans. In the field of education, children are taught
Polish in spite of German opposition.^* The patriotism and
courage of the Polish press are maintained in face of German
persecution. The return of Polish emigrants with a little capital,
accumulated by toil in foreign lands, is likewise one of the factors
which contribute to the preservation of the people in their home-
land. Both from the western industrial districts of Germany and
from overseas, many patriotic Poles return to the land of their
fathers and settle upon small farms purchased with their
savings.
From the east pressure corresponding to Teutonic battering,
although exerted with less intensity, is applied by Eussian
endeavor to create national homogeneity. Of all the different
members of the wide-spread Slavic race Poles and Eussians are
the most closely related by speech. But the affinity ends here, for
the formidable barrier of religious differences hampers fusion of
the two nationalities. Caught between the hammer of Teutonic
reformation and the Slavic anvil of Eussian orthodoxy, the
Poles have remained stanch Catholics. Creed, in this case,
has played a considerable part in the preservation of national
spirit.
'* After having been entirely banished from secondary schools, Polish was excluded
from elementary schools by a ministerial decree, dated Sept. 7, 1887. Religious in-
struction alone could be imparted in this language and even this privilege was removed
in 1905.
130 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
In Austria alone have the Poles been relatively free from per-
secution. Even there, in recent times, the Austrian policy of
setting her subject peoples against each other had led to a display
of favoritism towards the Euthenian neighbors of the Poles.
Both of these Slavic peoples inhabit Galicia principally. The
province is the relic of the old duchy of Halitch, which had Lem-
berg for its capital. The name Galicia originated in Austria, at
the time of the partition of Poland in 1772, and was applied to
that part of the dismembered country which Austria annexed.
The province is peopled at present by over three million
Ruthenes.
Western Galicia, including the important cities of Cracow and
Tarnow, as well as the Tatra massif, is peopled almost exclu-
sively by about 2,750,000 Poles of whom 7 per cent are Polish-
speaking Jews.-" Eastern Galicia on the other hand is the home
of only 1,400,000 Poles, but here the Euthenians make up a solid
mass of 3,200,000. In the cities, however, the Poles form over-
whelming majorities, although their number dwindles to insignifi-
cance as the Eussian frontier is approached. Lemberg, notably,
contains a high proportion of Polish inhabitants.
But the fact of paramount importance in the condition of
Austrian Poles is that in spite of their minority in the largest
part of Galicia, they represent the dominating element in the
Galician population. Vast estates and great industries are almost
exclusively in their hands. They are also intellectual leaders and
the liberal professions are practically entirely held by them. The
Euthenian 's lot throughout Galicia is that of the toiler, either in
the field or in the factory. Descendants of Euthenian noblemen
have been absorbed by the Polish nobility, which has become the
ruling class. This economic superiority, coupled to political
advantages secured from the Austrian government by the Galician
statutes of 1868, makes the lot of the Austrian Poles truly enviable
in comparison with that of their German or even their Eussian
kinsmen. The province is ruled by a Diet composed of Poles and
Euthenians, each speaking his own tongue. The authority of this
" G. Bienaime: loc. cit.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 131
body, however, is strictly restricted to provincial affairs. Extra-
provincial matters are under the direct control of Vienna.
The Euthenian is therefore the Pole's great rival in Gralicia.
Although the outward manifestation of this rivalry assumes the
form of nationalistic outbursts, the conflict is, in the main, social
and economic. The Euthenian proletariat is at odds with its
Polish rulers. It has begun to dream of redemption from the
vassalage borne for centuries. Fortunately its endeavors are a
source of improvement in the lot of both Euthenian and Polish
peasants. A glimpse of the power vested in the Euthenian mass
is thus afforded. As a people these Euthenes constitute the
westernmost group of the Little Eussian division of the Slavic
people. They inhabit the territory of the ancient kingdom of
Ukraine and number some 30,000,000 souls. Southwestern Eussia
is peopled by them almost exclusively. They form from 76 to 99
per cent of the population of the following districts : ^°
1. The Ukraine of the right bank of the Dnieper, Podolia,,
Volhynia, Kiev and Kholm.
2. The Ukraine of the left bank of the Dnieper, Tcher-
nihov, Poltava, Kharkov, southwestern Khursk and
Voronezh, and the region of the Don Cosacks to the
Sea of Azov.
3. The steppe of Ukraine lying on both sides of the
Dnieper and comprising Katerynoslav, Kherson and
the eastern parts of Bessarabia and Tauris.
4. North Caucasus, adjacent to the region of the Dob
Cosacks, comprising Kuban and the eastern parts of
the Stavropolskoi and Terskaja governments.
In addition about 50,000 Euthenians reside in Bukovina, while
700,000 occupy the sub-Carpathian districts of Hungary. About
2,000,000 are scattered in Siberian settlements. In Austria the
Carpathian mountains split the main body of the Euthenians into
two sections, which occupy respectively Galicia and Hungary. Tn
" B. Sands: The Ukraine, London, 1914, p. 8.
132 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the latter kingdom they are distributed mainly in the northern
and northeastern counties of Abanj, Bereg, Maramaros, Saros,
Ung and Zemplin.
The Euthenians claim to be the original Eussians. The purity
of the Slav type is better preserved among them than among any
other group in Eussia and they show less of the Asiatic strain.
They represent the truly European Eussians. Eacial char-
acteristics set them apart from the main body of Eussians on
the north and east of their land. Eound-headedness is very
pronounced among them and they tend to be tall and dark-
complexioned. Dialectical differences between them and the
Muscovites of the north and east also exist.
The Masurians of northeastern Germany are essentially an
agricultural people who have succeeded in supporting themselves
on exceedingly poor soil. They occupy the marshy belt of land
which has become famous through the battles fought within and
around its borders during the Great European War. It com-
prises the nine districts of Allenstein, Johannisburg, Loetzen,
Lyck, Neidenburg, Oletzko, Ortelsburg, Osterode and Sensburg.
A Masurian element constitutes the majority of the inhabitants
of Augustov and Seiny, the two southernmost circles of the gov-
ernments of Suwalki. The German element is strongly represented
in the entire region. It forms a contingent of some 70,000 indi-
viduals in the governments of Kovno and Suwalld.^^ As far as
can be ascertained, the earliest inhabitants of the land consisted
of fishermen occupying lacustrine habitations resting on piles.
Their villages are disposed around the hillocks to which they
resorted for shelter from man and the elements in the early
period of the settlement of the land. Locality names throughout
the region are Polish, even in the settlements founded by the
Knights of the Teutonic Order or the Hohenzollerns. Often a
thin streak of Germanization has been imparted to names of
villages by the addition of the prefix Neu or Klein.^*
"H. Eosen: Pet. Mitt., Vol. 61, Sept. 1915, pp. 329-333.
^' A. Weinrich: BevSlkemngsstatistische und Siedlungsgeographie, Beitrage zur
Kunde Ost-Masuriens, vornehmlieh der Kreise Oletzko und Lycke. Konigsberg, 1911.
Fig. 40 — A Weiidish lujilKiiise in llic S|ji'c('\vmI(1 wlici-r ancient Sliuic rdlonies re-
tain their lauguajje and customs altlicm^'li siirrdUiided liy (_ierinaiis.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 133
Within this marshy country, a Polish folk has maintained its
own institutions ever since the consolidation of Poles into a dis-
tinct people within the drainage area of the Vistula. The only
feature of Germanism which took hold in the land was the
Protestant religion. The 300,000 Masurians, therefore, present
the queer anomaly of a Protestant Polish group. Apart from this
peculiarity they are as truly Poles as their land is part of the
Vistula basin. With the revival of Polish ideals in recent years
the growth of Protestantism in the region has been checked. It
is interesting to note that the revulsion of religious feeling had
its source in the province of Posen, in the full midst of Teutonic
proselytism, and not, as might have been expected, in Eussian
Poland.
The Wends of Germany represent the only intact remnant of
the Slav populations which once filled the country. The whole
plain country of northern Germany extending from the Elbe to
the Vistula had been inhabited by the Wends since early Christian
times. The country between the Sale, upper Havel and Spree
valleys was probably their original settling ground.^" They now
occupy Lusatia and are sometimes known as Lusatian Serbians.
In the Middle Ages the name of Sorabes was given to them. The
Germans first began to invade the region in the eleventh century.
In the fourteenth, they attained numerical preponderance. The
decline of the Slav communities which was accelerated by the
Thirty Years' War, begins about this time. The union of
Lusatia with Bohemia helped the Slav cause for a while, but the
treaty of Prague, in 1635, by which the country was awarded to
Saxony crushed Slavic hopes. At present, the Slavic language
has practically disappeared from the region, although the appear-
ance and customs of the inhabitants are more Slav than German.
As late as the Middle Ages the Wends occupied an area con-
siderably to the north of their present seat. The eastern valley
of the Elbe, as well as Mecklenburg territory, was settled by them
before 1160. Charters of this period such as that of the Schwerin
bishopric of 1178, or of the cloister of Dargun of 1174, show
"L. Niederle: La race slave, Paris, 1916, p. 94.
134. FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Slavic place names exclusively. Among signs pointing to a pre-
German spread of the Wendish element are the relics of Slavic
family names and evidences of the old "Hakenhufen" division
of the land in lots of 15 acres. This last proof appears irrefutable
and points, upon application, to the former extension of the
Fig. 41 — The area of Wend speech. The dotted patch shows that Kottbus is the
center of the district in which the majority of the inhabitants (over 50 per cent.)
speak the Slav language. In the ruled area the percentage of Wends is less than 50.
Wendish element to the very shores of the Baltic.'^" Germaniza-
tion seems to have been thoroughly accomplished by the second
half of the thirteenth century. But even today a great part of
the area east of the Elbe must be regarded as a land of German-
speaking Slavs.
Surrounded by Germans, the "Wendish colony is doomed to
disappear in spite of a literary renascence which helps to per-
petuate national consciousness in its midst. According to
statistics, the number of Wends is steadily declining. The
progress of Germanization is particularly apparent in Lower
Lusatia, which is part of the Prussian domain. It was estimated
'° H. Witte: Wendische Bevolkerungsreste in Mecklenburg, Forsch. z. deut. Lcmdes-
u. Yolksk., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1907.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH 135
in 1885 that this people comprised about 176,000 souls. Later
computations place this figure at about 156,000. The absence of
an intellectual class among them, compulsory military service in
German regiments and the use of the German language in church
favor the progress of Teutonism."
The want of linguistic unity among the Wends also tends to
weaken their position. Idiomatic differences between the lan-
guages of Upper and Lower Lusatia are such as to prevent the
natives of the respective districts from rendering themselves
intelligible to one another. The literary language of Kottbus
differs from that of Bautzen. Diversity of customs and institu-
tions is also noticeable between the two groups. German ideas
increase this cultural split, the divergence from Slavic institu-
tions and thought thus becoming accentuated. Unlike the
Masurians, and because of their isolation, the Wends cannot look
to eventual incorporation with the Polish body. Their political
destiny is therefore distinct from that of the Poles.
We have seen in this chapter that although conquered and
divided Poland still lives. A compact mass of over 20,000,000
individuals speaking the same language is a force which cannot
but make itself felt. This main body of Poles resides within its
own linguistic boundaries. Smaller colonies are found outside
these limits. The Polish inhabitants of Lithuania and Ukraine
muster about 2,000,000. Vilna alone, the capital of Lithuania, has
a population of 70,000 Poles out of a total of 170,000 inhabi-
tants.^^ The Polish colonies of Ukraine, of the coal-fields of the
Donetz, and of the Caucasus comprise wealthly landholders,
manufacturers, bankers and merchants. These men though living
outside the ethnographic boundaries of their people nevertheless
exercise the weight of their influence on its behalf. Thus the
three groups into which conquest has divided the Poles remain
today in intimate contact in spite of the political boundaries
which separate them. It is mainly in the economic field that bind-
ing ties have been established between the three, for the Poles of
the three continental empires have made it a point to promote
" Op. cit., pp. 96-97. " Including 40 per cent of Jews.
136 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
trade relations with one another. This was forging a new link
to their pre-existing natural ties of kinship.
The problem of delimiting Polish national boundaries is com-
plicated on the east and west, as has been stated, by the absence
of prominent surface features. On both sides the lines of lin-
guistic parting provide the only practicable demarcation. On the
north and south, however, the Baltic and the Carpathians may be
utilized advantageously as national frontiers. But the fate of
the Polish region is strongly outlined by nature, for the entire
basin of the Vistula is a regional unit. Any partitioning of this
basin would probably be followed by political conflicts.
NOTE ON THE SLAVS
I
In the ninth century the Slavs occupied the eastern plains of Europe between
the valleys of the Elbe and the Dnieper. Southward they spread to the northern
f ootbiUs of the mountains of central Europe. Although subdivided rato tribes bearing
different names, there esisted no essential differences among them as to language or
custom. The pagan divinities worshiped in the drainage area of the Vistula were
the gods of the inhabitants of the Dnieper valley. Tribal authority was exercised
by a chief designated as Kniaz or Voivod throughout these lowlands. Intercourse
between the various groups was constant. A vague political union is even discerned
"by some historians. The Poles and Ruthenians and, to a lesser extent, the
Bohemians, are the best modem representatives of these original Slavs. All the
eastern Slavs, however, have mixed more or less with Asiatic peoples.
Some light is thrown on the European origin of the peoples of Aryan speech
by the growth of the Slavs. The Slavs of Europe now form by far the most impor-
tant ethnic group of that continent. They comprise about 160,000,000 individuals
out of a total of 400,000,000 inhabitants of Europe. Two-thirds of this Slavic
•element consists of Russians (66,000,000 Great Russians, 32,000,000 Little Russians,
and about 8,000,000 White Russians). ^^ Next to the Russians in numerical impor-
tance are the Poles (23,000,000). The Serbo-Croatian gxoup can only muster half
the Polish an-ay. The Bohemians follow, 8,000,000 strong, while the Bulgarian
group does not quite attain 6,000,000. Smaller groups are the 2,000,000 Slovenes,
the 2,000,000 Slovaks and the less important enclave communities of German lands
like the Wend in Lusatia.
The homeland of the primitive nucleus of this branch of the Indo-European
family is restricted in the main to the plains extending from the northwestern
" The Slavs are divided by religion into a main body of about 110,000,000 in-
dividuals belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church, about 37,000,000 Roman Catho-
lics, 5,000,000 Easkolniks or Sectarians, between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 Protestants
and over 1,000,000 Mohammedans.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH
137
corner of the Black Sea to the sandy delta of the Oder. The valleys of the great
rivers in this lowland exerted the earliest separative influence which is known to have
occurred ia the primitive Slav group. Niederle distinguishes three main sub-groups
which fit into the frame of eastern European hydrography." A northwesterly
branch^ attained the valleys of the Elbe, Sale and Sumava, and gave birth to the
Bohemian and Polish factions. A central group, originally occupying the region
of the upper Vistula, the Dniester and middle Danube, rounded the southern slopes
of the Carpathians and, traveling up-stream on the Danube, eventually attained'
the valleys of the Save and Drave. The Slavs of southeastern Europe are
■descendants of this group. Originally pure Slavs, they are permeated with Asiatic
blood owing to repeated iavasions from the east. The third group was destined to
form the substratum of Slavic Russia. It radiated from the basin of the Dnieper
as far north as the Gulf of Finland and eastward to the valleys of the Oka, the
Don and the Volga.
TABLE I
FOEMEE Polish Peovinces Undee Gbeman Ritle at the Beginning of the
EuEOPBAN Wab '
Area in
Province sq, mi.
POMEEANIA, regencies of Strzalow
(Stralsund), Szezecia (Stettin),
and Koszalin (Koslin) 11,751
West Peussia, regencies of Gdansk
(Dantzik) and Kwidzyn (Marien-
werder) 9,966
East Peussia, regencies of Kro-
lewiec (Konigsberg), Glombin
(Gumbianen) and Olsztyn (Al-
lenstein) 14,431
Population
1910
Period of loss
to Poland
1,716,921 Xlllth century '
1,703,474 1772 '
2,064,175 1656 '
* Ii. Strzembosz : Tableau des divisions administratives actuelles de la Pologne,
Paris, 1915.
° Not including the circles of Lembork (Lauenburg), (479 sq. mi., 52,851 inhab.),
Bytow (Butow) (238 sq. mi., 28,151 inhab.), and Drahim land (Drabeim) (197
flq. mi., 18,500 inhab.), which were lost in the first partition in 1772.
•Not including the circle of Susz (Rosenberg) (407 sq. mi., 54,550 inhab.), and
half of that of Kwidzyn (187 sq. mi., 34,213 inhab.), which together made part of
ducal Prussia and were lost in 1656.
* Given in fief by the Polish kings to the Dukes of Brandenburg and exonerated
in 1656 from the oath of vassalage, except the four circles of Braniewo (Braunsberg)
(383 sq. mi., 54,613 inhab.), Licbark (Heilsberg) (427 sq. mi., 51,912 inhab.), Olsztyn
(Allenstein) (529 sq. mi., 90,996 inhab.) and Eeszel (Rossel) (333 sq. mi., 50,472
inhab.), which together under the name of Duchy of Warmie made part of Royal
Prussia and were lost at the first partition.
' La race slave, Paris, 1911, pp. 3-4.
138 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
TABLE I—Continued
Area in Population Period of loss
Phovincb sq. mi. 1910 to Poland
PosNANiA, regencies of Poznan
(Posen) and Bydgoszcz (Brom-
berg) 11,307 2,099,831 1815"
Regency of Frankfurt (Franc-
fort-sur-rOder) 7,487 1,233,189 Xlllth century
Phovincb op Silesia, regencies
of Llgniea (Liegnitz), Wroclaw
(Breslau)," and Opole (Oppeln) 15,731 5,225,962 1335
Saxon District of Budzisztn
(Bautzen)' 963 443,549 Xlllth century
" Conferred on the king of Prussia under the name of Grand Duchy of Posen at
the time of the partition of the Duchy of Warsaw by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
' Former appendages of a branch, extinguished in 1675, of the royal Polish house
of Piast.
' Part of the former marquisate of Lusace.
TABLE II
Polish Administrative Divisions Under Austro-Hungarian Rule at the
Beginning of the European War
Area in Period of loss-
Territory sq. mi. Population to Poland
Marquisate of Moravia 866 2,622,271 Xlth century
Duchy of Silesia ' 2,007 756,949 —
Kingdom of Galicia with the
Grand Duchy of Cracow " 30,615 8,025,675 1772-1795
^ Part of the former Polish Silesia, kept by Germany.
' The territory of Cracow, made into a republic in 1815 by the Congress of
Vienna, was annexed by Austria in 1846.
TABLE III
Polish Administrative Divisions Under Russian Rule at the Beginning op
THE European War
Area in Population in Period of loss
Tbrritort sq. mi. 1910' to Poland
Baltic Provinces:
Gov't of Esthonia 7,897 471,400 1660
" " Livonia 18,342 1,466,900 1660
" " Courland 10,642 749,100 1795
Lithuania :
Gov't of Grodno 15,081 1,974,400 )
"' " Kovno 15,853 1,796,700 [ 1793-1795''
" " Vilna 16,587 1,957,000 )
^ Consisting of Poles and natives.
' The circle of Bialystok, occupied by the king of Prussia in 1795, was ceded to
Russia by the treaty of Tilsit in 1807.
THE AREA OF POLISH SPEECH
139
TABLE lll—Continved
Area in
Territory sq. mi.
"White Euthenia :
Gov't of Smolensk 21,757
" " Minsk 35,649
" " Mohilev 18,738
" " Witebsk 17,615
Kingdom or Poland:
Gov't of Kalisz 4,436
" " Kielce 3,936
" " Lublin 6,567
" " Lomza 4,119
" " Piotrkow 4,777
" " Plock 3,684
" " Radom 4,817
" " Siedlee 5,591
'' " Suwalki 4,895
" " Warsaw 6,833
Euthenia :
Gov't of Kiovie 19,890
" " Podolia 16,587
" " Volhynia 28,023
Population in
19101
1,988,700
2,868,300
2,261,500
1,850,700
1,183,800
973,300
1,556,000
688,500
1,981,300
739,900
1,112,200
1,003,400
681,300
2,547,700
4,604,200
3,812,000
3,920,400
Period of loss
to Poland
1667
1772-1793
1815 by Congress
of Vienna
1793-1795 '
'The city of Kijow (Kiev) vvitli its district (773 sq. mi., 560,000 inhab.) was
lost in 1686.
TABLE IV
Distribution of Poles axd Germans in Uppee Silesia, According to 1910
German Census Figures '
Locality Population Germans Poles
Kreuzburg 51,906 24,363 24,487
Rosenberg 52,341 8,586 42,234
Oppebi (city) 33,907 27,128 5,371
Oppeln (district) 117,906 23,740 89,323
Gross-Strehlitz 73,383 12,616 58,102
LubHnitz 50,388 7,384 39,969
Gleiwitz (city) 66,981 49,543 9,843
Tost-Gleiwitz 80,515 16,408 61,509
Tarnowitz 77,583 20,969 51,859
Beuthen (city) 67,718 41,071 22,401
Konigshutte (city) 72,641 39,276 24,687
Beuthen-Land 195,844 59,308 123,016
Hiadenburg 139,810 63,875 81,567
Kattowitz (city) 43,173 36,891 5,766
Kattowitz (district) 216,807 65,763 140,592
* E. Baumgarten; Deutsche und Polen in Oberschlesien, Deutsche Erde, Vol. 13,
No. 7, 1914-1915, pp. 175-179.
140 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
TABLE lY—Gontinued
Locality Population
Pless 122,897
Eybnik 131,630
Ratibor (city) 38,424
Eatibor (district) 118,923
Kosel 75,673
Leobschiitz * 82,635
Neustadt 97,537
Talkenberg 37,526
Neisse (city) 25,938
Neisse (district) 75,285
Grottkau 40,610
Germans
Poles
16,464
105,744
24,872
102,430
22,914
11,525
13,316
56,765
16,433
56,794
69,901
5,178
51,489
43,787
33,286
3,815
24,735
955
74,125
797
39,589
825
CHAPTER VII
BOHEMIAN, MORAVIAN AND SLOVAKIAN
The Bohemians, who with the Moravians form the vanguard
of the Slavs in Europe, occupy the mountain-girt plateau of
Bohemia in the very heart of the continent. Here, a steady
easterly spread of Teutons has prevented expansion of these
Slavs along the eastern valleys which provide them with com-
munication with the rest of the continent. Bohemians and
Moravians thus found themselves shut within the mountainous
rim of their land by the Germans of Silesia and Austria proper.
The German ring surrounding Bohemia is composed of
groups belonging to various types of the Teutonic family. A
southwestern element consists of descendants of Bavarian set-
tlers. Farmers and woodsmen were introduced into the Bohmer-
wald, as an inevitable phase of the exploitation of the mountain-
ous area, by religious communities of the thirteenth century. The
end of the Thirty Years' War was marked by a new influx of
Germans needed to repopulate the sorely devastated Bohemian
districts. The Bavarians, however, never reached the foot of the
eastern slopes. Modern Bohemian resistance to their spread
toward the plain persists unflinchingly. Northward, the Erzge-
birge uplift is also a German ethnographic conquest. For cen-
turies its mineral wealth has attracted artisans from Franconia,
Thuringia and Saxony. The mountain slopes re-echo today to
the sound of the dialects of these ancient countries. The Saxon
element prevails particularly among the inhabitants of the Elbe
valley.
Farther east, descendants of Lusatian and Silesian peasants
still use the vernacular of their ancestors in the upland formed
by the Iser Gebirge and the Eiesen Gebirge, In modern times
the valleys of these mountains yield a steady stream of German-
141
U2 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
speaking inliabitaiits to the industrial towns of the southern
plain. The German workingman 's competition with his Bohemian
fellow laborer is keen in this district, but it has not been marked
by a notable advance of the Teutonic idiom.
Linguistically the Bohemians and Moravians form a unit
hemmed in by Germans on all sides except the east, where they
abut against their Slovak kinsmen. Community of national aspi-
rations, under the leadership of the Bohemian element, is
generally ascribed to these three Slavic groups. The union has
been fostered by the lack of a literary language among Moravians,
Avho have adopted the Bohemian alphabet and style. With the
Slovaks ^ inferiority of numbers helped the spread of the
Bohemian language and literature.
The Czech linguistic area presents homogeneity of composition
which is seldom encountered in other parts of Austria-Hungary.
Intermingling of Slavic and Teutonic elements has been slight in
this advanced strip of Slavdom. Overlapping of German is met
in belts generally parallel to the political divide. It is particu-
larly noticeable in the angle formed by the junction of the
Bohmerwald and Erzgebirge near the western linguistic divide,
where it almost attains the town of Pilsen.^ Beyond, in a north-
erly direction, the volcanic area characterized by thermal springs
lies within the German line. Eeichenberg, a strenuous center of
Teutonism, maintains easterly and westerly prongs of German
in the Iser-E-iesen uplifts and the Elbe valley, respectively. The
German of Silesia spreads into Moravia along the Zwittau-
Olmiitz-Neu Titschen line.
A short stretch of the linguistic boundary coincides with the
political frontier in the neighborhood of Taus, but the rest of
the southern Bohmerwald overlooking Bohemian levels is German
in speech from the crests to the zone in which widening of the
valleys becomes established. The disappearance of this moun-
* Official Austrian figures estimate the nurober of Slovaks at slightly over 2,000,000.
Slavic authorities generally give higher figures,
^ J. Zemmich: Deutschen und Slawen in den iisterreichischen Siidetenlandern,
Deutsche Erde, Vol. 2, 1903, pp. 1-4.
BOHEMIAN, MORAVIAN AND SLOVAKIAN 14.3
tainous chain, in southern Moravia, coincides with a southerly-
extension of Czech in the valley of the March. Contact with
Slovak dialects begins in the Beskid area.
Celts, Teutons and Slavs have occupied the Bohemian lozenge
in turn. The appellation Czechs first appears in the sixth cen-
tury. National consolidation began with the country's conversion
to Christianity, three hundred years later, and was maintained
with varying fortunes until 1620. Bohemian political freedom
was annihilated in that year on the battlefield of the White
Mountain. After this defeat the land and its inhabitants lapsed
into a state of lethargy. The high cultural attainment of a few
modern Bohemians was sufficient to rouse the country to a sense
of national feeling.* Fortunately native poets, historians and
scientists were successful in infusing their patriotic ideals in the
minds of their countrymen. In particular, the fire of Bohemian
patriotism has been kept alive by literary activity.
Successful attempts on the part of Hungarians to assimilate
the Slovaks has caused these mountaineers to turn to their
Bohemian kinsmen for assistance in the preservation of race and
tradition. Merging of national aspirations in this case, was
facilitated by close linguistic affinity. A Czecho-Slovak body
consisting of 8,410,998 individuals * thus came into being within
the Dual Monarchy in order to maintain resistance against Ger-
man and Hungarian encroachments.
The struggle between Teuton and Slav in Bohemia goes back
to the obscure period of the country's early history. As late as
the middle of the ninth century Bohemia was mainly a pagan
state. German missionaries at that time were endeavoring to
convert the natives to Christianity. But the mere nationality of
the apostles of the new faith prevented them from gaining
adherents. From the heart of Europe the Bohemians looked
eastward to the Christians of the Slavic race for religious salva-
tion. We read of envoys being sent to the court of the Byzan-
tine emperor to beseech this ruler to send Christian teachers of
' L. Bourlier: Lea Tch^ques et la Bohgme contemporaine, Paria, 1897, pp. 143-220.
' Census returns for 1910. New Inter. Eneyc, New York, 1914.
144! FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the Slavic faith, to Bohemia, as the German missionaries could
not make themselves intelligible to the natives. These steps
were viewed with considerable apprehension by German bishops,
especially after the success which attended the proselytizing
efforts of Methodus and his colleagues. The Byzantine priests
had brought with them a translation of the Bible in the Slavic
language of Macedonia. The replacement of Bohemian by Ger-
man was thus effectively prevented. Bohemia and Moravia
definitely became bilingual countries in the thirteenth century as
a result of the inflow of German colonists who responded to
urgent appeals for settlers made by Bohemian rulers in that
period. The belt of German towns which completely encircles
Bohemia is a consequence of this policy. The deforested zones
of the west and northwest received the largest number of
settlers.
In western and northern Bohemia a struggle for supremacy
between German and Czech has been carried on for years with
unabated vehemence. The scene of contest between the two
peoples is often laid in individual communes. Clerical, industrial
and educational influences are constantly at work for the exten-
sion of the linguistic area with which they side. On the whole
the Bohemians, being in command of superior pecuniary
resources, appear to be gaining ground, although from special
causes the German element shows an advance in certain districts.
In those parts where mixture has taken place no definite
boundary between pure German and Bohemian (i.e., in over 90
per cent of the respective peoples) can be drawn. As a rule, it
is the Bohemians who have of late advanced their outposts into
the German sphere, the Germanization of which dates back some
two hundred years. Although they have fallen back somewhat
in the tongue of land which projected into German ground, north
of Mies, they have gained much ground in Pilsen and in the
industrial region around Niirschan, west of that town. Fifty
years ago only some three or four thousand out of a total popu-
lation of fourteen thousand in Pilsen were Bohemians, but the
influx of population which has since taken place has been almost
BOHEMIAN, MORAVIAN AND SLOVAKIAN 145
entirely Bohemian. In 1890 tlie proportion of Germans in the
city only amounted to 16.2 per cent. Niirschan, the chief center
of the coal-fields of western Bohemia, boasts a Bohemian
majority and if the process now going on is continued the
Bohemian population will probably in time join hands with that
in Mies."
Further to the northeast similar conditions prevail, though the
linguistic frontier is in parts more sharply defined. In the coal-
fields of Briix and Dux the Bohemian element has largely increased
on the German side of the normal frontier owing to the influx of
Czech miuers. In Trebnitz again the Czech language has gained
a firm footing, although the town at the end of the nineteenth
century was entirely German. In the neighboring town of
Lobositz, however, which occupies an important position at the
junction of six lines of railway, the prospects from the German
point of view are brighter. The accession of Charles IV to the
throne of Bohemia in 1346 was an event of the utmost impor-
tance in the linguistic history of the country." This sovereign,
the successor of German princes who had never allowed Bohemia
fair play, showed marked affection for the land he was called
upon to rule and set himself to master its language thoroughly.
For two hundred years prior to his reign, Bohemian stood in
danger of being replaced by German. Other Slav dialects were
fast disappearing before the vigorous advance of Teutonic
• Quoted from the Qeogr. Journ., Vol. 16, 1900, p. 553.
• According to data gathered by Niederle " the Bohemian boundary in the fourteenth
century started at Kynwart and passed through Zdar, Kralipy and Komotan, the latter
being German. Thence it attained Most and spread to Duchcov and Dieczin. Bilin
and Teplitz were still Bohemian. The frontier then reached the German settlement of
Benesov and extended to Jablonna and beyond the lestred mountains until it struck
the sources of the Iser river. Reichenberg was a German city in the fourteenth century.
The Germans also occupied the mountainous land beyond Hohenelbe. This town was
then peopled by Bohemians mainly, but Pilnikov, Trutnov, Zaclev and Stare Buky were
already German. Starkov was Bohemian, but the Brunov region and the Kladsko
country was Germanized. Olesnica and Eokytince were Bohemian. Beyond Policzka
and Litomysl the situation was similar to that of our day. Nemecky Brod contained a
German enclave. Jindrichuv Hradec as well as Budweiss, Krumlov and Prachatice were
inhabited by both peoples. The Kasperk mountains were mainly German. The boundary
in the Domazlice country was on Bohemian soil. Klatovy was a mixed zone, while
Tachov was German.''
146 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
speech. Through its literature alone the Bohemian language was
preserved. This literary development was an advantage which
was not possessed by the Slav languages, which gave way before
German.
As a result of Charles's benevolent policy Bohemian became
the language of the court. Furthermore it was used exclusively
in many courts of law, which were re-established through the
same influence. It was even decreed that speakers at the assem-
blies of town magistrates should use the language of their choice
and that no one speaking only Grerman could be appointed a
judge. In this way equality for the Bohemian language was
obtained in the districts in which Germans had settled.'
The creation of the Archbishopric of Prague and the founda-
tion of the "new town" of Prague dated also from the reign of
King Charles. Bohemian clergymen were encouraged to preach
in the vernacular. Their sermons reached the people and stirred
them to thought. The national movement against the Eoman
Church was thus facilitated. But another cause favored the
spread of Protestantism in Bohemia. Antagonism to Catholicism
was merely a special form of Bohemian objection to German
influence in the land. The Hussite movement is therefore an
episode in the prolonged struggle between Teuton and Slav.
The enlargement of Prague infused vitality into the Bohemian
language. The new toAvn was Bohemian in speech as well as in
sentiment. Slavic prevailed exclusively in municipal offices and
tribunals. Venceslas, who followed Charles, faithfully main-
tained his predecessor's attitude towards Bohemian. A notable
advance in favor of the language of the land was made in his
reign by a decision according to which all decrees of the court
and the government, which hitherto had been rendered in either
German or Latin, were to be henceforth published in Bohemian.
The University of Prague, which has always been a center of
Bohemian intellectual life, was also affected by these changes.
In the middle of the fifteenth century the German element in
Bohemia had complete control of the affairs of this institution.
'Lutzow: Bohemia, New York, 1910, pp. 71, 92.
BOHEMIAN, MORAVIAN AND SLOVAKIAN 147
Its chairs were filled by Teutons and its dignities awarded to
their kinsmen. In 1385, swayed by national aspirations and
relying on the predilection shown them in high quarters,
Bohemians began to protest against the presence of foreigners
in their national seat of learning. Their appeal found a response
with the Archbishop of Prague, who ruled that Bohemians were
entitled to priority in appointments to university offices, and
that only in case of their unfitness was a German to be selected.
Complaint of this decision was made by the Germans to the Pope
and a compromise reached in virtue of which predominance of
Bohemian rights was obtained. The appearance of John Huss
on the scene of this struggle was the next step in the task of
completely emancipating Bohemia from German rule.
The national movement fostered in this manner was to end
disastrously at the battle of the White Mountain in 1620. The
treaty of Westphalia removed all probability of the establishment
of an autonomous Bohemian nation. But Bohemian patriots
have a saying that "as long as the language lives the nation is
not dead," and through all the dark days of the country's his-
tory, in the very heart of continental Europe, cut off from the
surrounding lands by a wall of forested slopes, the Bohemian
language has held its own, not merely as a vernacular but as a
literary language worthy of the nation's pride.
A period of marked decline intervened, however, between the
seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The crushing blow inflicted
on Bohemian nationalism in 1620 was speedily followed by a rigid
German oversight of the country. Seven years later, Ferdinand
inaugurated a series of measures aimed at destroying the cause
for which Bohemians had sacrificed their lives. The German
language began to supplant the Bohemian. The "renewed
ordinance of the land," issued in 1627, contained provisions for
the recognition of German in tribunals and government offices on
the same terms as Bohemian. The appointment of Germans to
important offices was a policy which marked this period. Its
effects became perceptible in the growing use of the conquerors''
language. The seventeenth century is marked by a rapid growth
148 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of the Teutonic belt encircling Bohemia, Luditz and Saaz were
lost to the Bohemian language in that period. So were the
districts of Eokytince and Vichlaby' in the eastern section
of the country. But since the beginning of the eighteenth century
little change has taken place in the German-Bohemian linguistic
boundary.
Among the causes which contributed to the decline of the
Bohemian language about this time were the land confiscations
which were carried out on an extensive scale by the Imperialists.'
Most of the noblemen of Bohemia were deprived of their estates.
As a result about half the landed property of the country was
taken away from its Slav owners. This spoliation was carried
on by the Catholics, the despoiled and exiled Hussites being
replaced by Germans, Spaniards, Walloons and even Irish. This
foreign element naturally adopted the German language and
Bohemian was abandoned to serfs and peasants.
The humble tillers of Bohemian soil proved faithful custo-
dians of their native speech. They stored the language during
two centuries as though they had been gifted with the fore-
knowledge of the splendid literary revival which was to mark its
renaissance at the magic touch of Kolar, Sofarik and Palack^.
Coincident with this movement national consciousness was reborn
among Bohemians, "Writers and poets naturally took the past
greatness of their native land as the theme of their compositions.
They told their countrymen of the glorious days of Bohemian
history. The movement fortunately took place when the wave of
liberalism set in motion by the French Eevolution was still
advancing into the recesses of central Europe. By the year 1840
all Bohemia had awakened to the idea of national independence.
Attempts to secure partial autonomy proved abortive, however,
Eevolutionary outbreaks in 1848 were quickly repressed by Aus-
trian troops, but the struggle between the two elements increased
in bitterness as years went by.
At present two-thirds of the inhabitants of Bohemia are
' L. Niederle: La race slave, Paris, 1916, p. 109.
"LUtzow: op. cit., p. 204.
BOHEMIAN, MORAVIAN AND SLOVAKIAN 149
Bohemians, and this Slavxc element is gradually forcing its way
into districts which were formerly occupied exclusively by Ger-
mans. The causes of this shifting are economic. The German
element, controlling industry and vested with authority, has
attained a state of relative prosperity. Even its poorest mem-
bers are not attracted by the prospect of work held out by
Bohemia's growing industry. The less advanced Bohemians,
however, not so content with their lot, are attracted by certain
kinds of labor which the German element spurns. Having fewer
local ties than their Teutonic countrymen, they easily move from
place to place. It thus happens that out of the thirty-six German
districts of Bohemia, twenty-two are now fully 5 per cent
Bohemian.^'
The inhabitants of the Margravate of Moravia are also true
Bohemians. This state is a crown-land of Bohemia, to the east
of which it lies. Its population consists of 1,870,000 Bohemians
and 720,000 Germans. Close affiliation with the kingdom of
Bohemia is revealed in Moravia's past history. The two states
formed the nucleus of the Bohemian nation. At present Moravia
is even more truly Bohemian than her larger sister state, since
three-fourths of the landowners of Moravia are Bohemians, while
in Bohemia that element holds only about three-fifths of the soil.
In spite of the mountainous character of the country, and the
isolation produced by it, very slight traces of early tribal differ-
ences can be detected among these Bohemians. In Moravia alone
three distinct types can be distinguished by their dialects and
their physical or ethnographic features. Dress in the last case
plays an important part."
The northeastern section of Moravia is known as the Lassko
country and is peopled by Lassi Moravians. This group occupies
districts mainly around the towns of Moravska-Ostrava and
Frydland. South of them a number of Slovak villages are found
within the Moravian border. Their inhabitants, sometimes known
as Moravian Slovaks, are emigrants from the Hungarian moun-
'" v. Oayda: Modern Austria, New York, 1915.
'*L. Niederle: La race slave, Paris, 1911, p. 127.
150 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
tains who reached the western Carpathians in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. Although they speak Bohemian, their customs
differ considerably from Bohemian usages. The balance of
Moravia is peopled by Hanaks, who are easily distinguished by
temperamental differences from the previous two groups. The
Hanaks as a rule are calm and inclined to ponderous ways of
thought and action, whereas both the Lassi and Slovaks are
quick-minded and lively.
German expansion into Moravia is facilitated by the valley of
the March, which penetrates into the heart of the Margravate.
The Elbe and Moldau in Bohemia play a similar part as agents
of Germanization. As in Bohemia, the Germans are confined to
the border heights or the towns. In the thirteenth century many
German fortified towns existed in Moravia. The rise of a pow-
erful German middle class dates from this period. Intellectually
as well as industrially the Teuton element is the more advanced.
Eacial and linguistic differences are accentuated by religious
antagonism, the German element being Roman in creed. The
clergy in fact have acted as a powerful agent of Germanization
in Moravia.
The Slovaks are dwellers of the northern highland border of
Hungary who reached Europe in the sixth century b.c. They are
closely related by racial and linguistic affinity to the Bohemians
and Moravians. The course of centuries has failed to change
their customs or the mode of life they led in the western Car-
pathians. The Hungarian plain spread out below their rocky
habitation without tempting them to forsake the huddled condi-
tions of their native valleys. Their language holds its own as
far east as the Laborec valley. Junction with Polish is effected
in the Tatra.
Once only in their history did the Slovaks succeed in creating
a great nation. In 870 a.d., under the leadership of Svatopuk,
they established the short-lived Great Moravian Empire. Unfor-
tunately his successors were unable to maintain the independence
of the nation he founded and the empire crumbled to pieces
before the repeated attacks of the Hungarians. By the tenth
BOHEMIAN, MORAVIAN AND SLOVAKIAN 151
century the political ties between Bohemians and Slovaks were
completely severed.
In the fifteenth century the two peoples were drawn to each
other by ties of religion. An enthusiastic reception had been
given to the teachings of John Huss by the Slovaks. They
adopted the Bohemian translation of the Bible. Religious refor-
mation was followed by a literary revival and Bohemian became
the language of culture among them. It was mainly among
Protestant Slovaks, however, that the influence of Bohemian
prevailed. The Catholic clergy opposed the movement by encour-
aging literary development of Slovakian. This linguistic struggle
is maintained to the present day. In spite of opposition, however,
Bohemian remains the literary language of the Slovak people.
John Kollar, one of the greatest writers of Bohemian poetry, was
a Slovak.
The Slovaks number approximately two million souls spread
over ten of the "comitats" of northern Hungary. Their occu-
pation of this region antedates the coming of the Magyars.
Survivals of ancient Slovak populations are still met in the
villages of central and southern Hungary. Bohemian refugees
of kindred speech and religion reinforced this autochthonous
element after the battle of the "White Mountain in 1620. These
circumstances perhaps have prevented their assimilation by the
conquering race. The aristocracy alone has intermarried with
the Hungarians. The masses have no more intercourse with the
rulers than they can help. Linguistic and religious differences
intensify the breach.
While the Slovaks form compact populations in the moun-
tains of northern Hungary, their colonies are found scattered
throughout the southern parts of this country except in the
Transylvanian districts. The campaign waged by Hungarians to
suppress Slovak national aims renders the lot of these Slavs
particularly trying. The ancient names of their villages and
towns are being officially replaced by Magyar names, even where
most of the inhabitants use Slovakian as their vernacular.
Although Slovak-land is an integral part of the Hungarian
152 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
kingdom, it has proved an attractive field for German coloni-
zation since the ninth century. The comitat of Zips was settled
by a large colony of Germans in the middle of the twelfth cen-
tury. Fifty years later the Teutons began to invade the comitats
of Pressburg and Neutra ^^ by advancing from the west. In Bars
and Hont, to both of which they proceeded from the south, they
were not known before the thirteenth century. The Germani-
zation of Slovak districts was particularly intense during the
Tatar invasion of this period. Hungary had been grievously
affected by this eastern scourge, and its kings offered special
inducements to repopulate their devastated provinces. Their call
was heeded by numerous families of German peasants. In the
first half of the sixteenth century almost every town within
Slovak boundaries contained one or two German families at least.
The heart of this German colonization was situated in the mining
districts of the country. Kremnitz and Nemecke Prava, as well
as adjoining districts, attracted heavy contingents of Teuton
workers. This movement ended in the seventeenth century when
the inflow of German colonists was checked by special legislation
and the foreign element was absorbed by either the Slovaks or
the Hungarians.
The modern boundary of Slovakian language in Hungary
starts according to Niederle at Deviuska Novaves near the
confluence of the Morva^' and Danube. From this point it
extends southeastward to Novezansky and Leva. Thence it is
continued south of Abanj as far as Huta, which is the eastern-
most Slovak village. The line now turns westward and skirts the
Galician frontier as far as the German border.
The area included within these confines is not altogether
homogeneous. The comitats of Neutra, Turocz, Bars and Gomo
contain enclaves of Germans. Polish and Hungarian settlements
are also known between Vrable and Neutra as well as at Abanj,
west of Kashau. Many Slovak communities exist, however,
beyond the region outlined above. These extra-territorial nuclei
"li. Niederle: La race slave, Paris, 1916, p. 106.
" The March acquires this name in its last stretch.
BOHEMIAN, MORAVIAN AND SLOVAKIAN 153
more than counterbalance numerically tlie alien total in Slovak-
land.
The most important localities inhabited by Slovaks outside of
their native land are Gran, in the comitat of Esztergom, and
Budapest. The Hungarian capital probably contains between
25,000 and 40,000 Slovaks. Their number in Vienna is estimated
at 50,000. In other parts of Hungary, as for instance at Kerepes
and Pilis, highly ancient Slovak communities are believed to
represent survivals of the people who lived in Hungary prior to
the appearance of the Hungarians.
Bohemia's national enfranchisement, if carried out on a
linguistic basis, will rescue the old lands of the Bohemian crown,
namely Bohemia, Moravia and the Slovak districts of north-
western Hungary, from Teutonic rule. The historical validity of
Bohemia's claims to independence and the failure of centuries of
Oermanization to deprive the Bohemian of his individuality
establish the country's right to a distinct place in a Europe of
free and harmonious nations. The Bohemian has his own objects
in self -development and the achievement of his independence
should be no disparagement of the aims and pursuits of other
nations.
CHAPTER VIII
THE LANDS OF HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN
LANGUAGES
The presence in Europe of Hungarians, a race bearing strong
linguistic and physical affinity to Turki tribesmen, is perhaps
best explained by the prolific harvests yielded by the broad
valleys of the Danube and Theiss. Huns, Avars and Magyars,
one 'and all Asiatics wandering into Europe, were induced to
abandon nomadism by the fertility of the boundless Alfold.
Western influences took solid root among these descendants of
eastern ancestors after their conversion to Christianity and the
adoption of the Latin alphabet. So strongly did they become
permeated by the spirit of occidental civilization, that the menace
of absorption by the Turks was rendered abortive whenever the
Sultan's hordes made successful advances towards Vienna. At
the same time, fusion with the Germans was prevented by the
oriental origin of the race. The foundation of a separate
European nation was thus laid in the Hungarian plains.
Language to the Magyar has always represented nationality.
.When in 1527 St. Stephen's crown was offered to Ferdinand of
Austria in order to strengthen Hungary's resistance against the
Turk, the new ruler pledged himself tnot to destroy this sacred
token of Hungarian political independence. "Nationem et
linguam vestram servare non perdere intendimus" was his
solemn promise. The germ of a dual form of government was
thus created in the presence of the Sultan's barbarous hordes,
but Hungary always preserved its individuality, for at no time
did the kingdom form part of the Holy Eoman Empire. Closer
union with Austria towards the end of the seventeenth century
when the right of succession to the Hungarian throne became
hereditary in the Hapsburg family, failed to Germanize the land
154
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 155
during all the eighteenth century. Later, up to 1867, the
persistent struggle of the Magyar against the Austrian was kept
up. Attempts to replace Grerman by Hungarian in the govern-
ing bodies of counties and muncipalities were merely the outward
expression of the contest.
When, in 1825, the Hungarian Academy of Science was
founded by a group of patriotic leaders, the movement was little
more than an attempt to revive the Magyar tongue. Count
Stephen Szechenyi's words on this occasion betray the conscious-
ness of the intimate relation between language and nationality
which is felt in every country during periods of actual danger.
"I am not here," he said, "as a great dignitary of the kingdom;
but I am an opulent landowner, and if an institution be estab-
lished that will develop the Magyar language and, by so doing,
advance the national education of our countrymen, I will sacrifice
the revenues of my estates for one year." The imp-etus given by
this statesman, and a few equally earnest compatriots, to the
cultivation of national literature in Hungary became a potent
factor in the shaping of the country's modern political destiny.
It liberated the Magyar from the Germanizing influences of
Austrian rule and ultimately paved the way to the establishment
of a dual government in the Empire.
The linguistic boundary between Hungarian and German is
found in the eastern extremity of the Austrian Alps. The
southern side of the valley of the Danube between Pressburg and
Eaab is German. Magyar spreads however to the north to meet
the Slovak area. South of Pressburg the shores of Lake
Neusiedler are included in the German area. The line then
crosses the upper valley of the Eaab and attains the Drave, which
forms the linguistic boundary between Croatian and Hungarian.
East of the Theiss, contact with the Rumanian of Transylvania
begins in the vicinity of Arad, on the Maros river, and extends
northward in an irregular line, hugging the western outliers of the
Transylvanian Alps and attaining the sources of the Theiss. In the
northeastern valley of this river, Hungarian and Ruthenian lan-
guages replace each other. The area of Magyar speech thus defined
156 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
lacks homogeneity in its western section lying west of the Danube.
Important enclaves of Germans are solidly intrenched in this
portion of the Hungarian domain. The central portion of the
monotonous expanse unfolding itself between the Danube and the
Theiss is, on the other hand, characterized by uniformity of the
Hungarian population it supports. Enclaves however exist all
along the border of this eastern, area. ^
Hungarian nationality asserted itself definitely in the nine-
teenth century in the face of strenuous effort on the part of
Germans to assimilate the Magyars. The latter took advantage
of the defeat of the Austrians at Sadowa in 1867 to reach a
compromise with their masters. The Hapsburg Empire was then
converted into a Dual Monarchy. For a time the economic
advantages of this union lay entirely with Austria. The Hun-
garian plain, vast and fecund, bestowed the wealth of its fertility
on Austria. A land of farmers it also became an important
market for the industrial output of its German partner-state.
This economic relation was maintained until the beginning of the
twentieth century, when Hungary made rapid progress in
industry and forced Austria to seek Balkan markets for the dis-
posal of its manufactured goods.
Austria's unsuccessful attempt to dominate Hungary's eco-
nomic life accelerated the growth of the germ of dissension
between the two countries. The tie that links Budapest to
Vienna, at present, is strengthened by Hungarian dread of
the Slav. It might have given way long ago otherwise, for
in truth Hungary has to face the menace of Pan-Germanism
as weU. The percentage of native Hungarians in their own
country is under 55 per cent and gives them a bare majority
over the combined alien peoples.^ The number of Germans scat-
tered in Hungarian districts is 2,000,000. The only advantage
which the natives of the soil possess lies in their occupation of
the richest lands in their country.
* An increase in the percentage of the Hungarian element in Hungary at the ex-
pense of the other nationalities and particularly of the Germans is shown by official
figures. The following table is instructive:
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 157
A minor group of Hungarians have settled on the eastern
edge of the Transylvania mountains. Here they live surrounded
by Eumanians on all sides except on the west where a lone out-
post of Saxons brings Teutonic customs and speech to the east.
The name of Szekler, meaning frontier guardsmen, applied to
this body of Magyars is indicative of their origin. Their pres-
ence on the heights overlooking the Eumanian plain bespeaks the
desire of Hungarian sovereigns to control the site of a natural
rampart dominating their plains. At the end of the thirteenth
century this Hungarian colony was in full development. Its
soldiers distinguished themselves during the period of war with
the Turks. Prestige acquired on battlefields strengthened the
separate and semi-independent existence of the community. The
region occupied by these Hungarians is situated along the east-
ernmost border of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. It extends
west of the uninhabited mountain-frontier district between
Tolgyes Pass and Crasna. The towns of Schassburg and Maros
Vasarhely lie on its western border. But the area of Eumanian
speech situated between the land of the Szekler and the main
Hungarian district is studded with numerous colonies of Magyars,
thereby rendering delimitation of a linguistic boundary in tlie
region almost impossible.
The Saxon colony adjoining the Szekler area on the west is
also a relic of medieval strategic necessities. In spite of the
name by which this German settlement is designated, its original
members appear to have been recruited from different sections
of western European regions occupied by Teutons.^ Colonization
Percentages of the Population of Hungary, without Croatia (after WalUs).
1880 1910
Magyars 46.7 54.5
Germans 13.6 10.4
Slovaks 13.5 10.7
Eumanians 17.5 16.1
Euthenians 2.6 2.5
Serbs and Croats 4.6 3.6
Others 1.5 2.2
But cf. in this connection B. C. Wallis: Distribution of Nationalities in Hungary^
Geogr. Journ., Vol. 47, 1916, No. 3, pp. 183-186.
' F. Teutsch : Die Art der Ansiedelung der Siebenbtirger Sachsen, Forsoh. s. deut.
158 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
had already been started when King Gesa 11 of Hungary gave it
a fresh impulse, in the middle of the twelfth century, by inducing
peasants of the middle Rhine and Moselle valleys to exchange
servitude in their native villages for land ownership in the
Transylvania area.^
To promote the efficiency of these colonists as frontier guards-
men an unusual degree of political latitude was accorded them.
In time their deputies sat in the Hungarian diet on terms of
equality with representatives of the nobility. Prolonged warfare
with the Tatar populations who attempted to force entrance into
the Hungarian plains, led to the selection of strategical sites as
nuclei of original settlements. These facts account for the sur-
vival of the Teutonic groups in the midst of Eumanians and
Hungarians. Today the so-called Saxon area does not constitute
a single group, but consists of separate agglomerations clustered
in the vicinity of the passes and defiles which the ancestors of
the Teutons were called upon to defend. The upper valley of
the Oltu and its mountain affluents, in the rectangle inclosed
between the town of Hermannstadt, Fogaras, Mediasch and
Schassburg, contain at present the bulk of this Austrian colony
of German ancestry.
The Eumanian problem in Hungary is mainly economic. The
chief aim of Hungarians is to maintain political supremacy in
the provinces containing a majority of the Romance-speaking
element. The Rumanian communities are scattered over an area
of about 76,000 square miles (122,278 sq. kms.) which comprises
Transylvania and its old "exterior" counties as well as the
Banat. This region is peopled by 6,305,666 inhabitants according
to recent census figures. Of these 87.8 per cent consist of
peasants. The number of Rumanians is officially estimated at
Landes- u. VolksJc, Vol. 9, 1896, pp. 1-22. Cf. also 0. Wittstock: Volksturaliclies der
Siebenbiirger Sachsen, in the same volume. The name " Saxon " appears to have been
applied indiscriminately in the Middle Ages to settlers of German speech in the Balkan
peninsula. " Saxon " miners and " Saxon " bodyguards were also known in Serbian
countries in that period.
' Luxemburg and tlie regions comprised between TrSves, Dusseldorf and Aix-la-
Chapelle furnished German colonists during the middle of the twelfth century.
si)
4
o
3:1
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 159
2,932,214. Kumanian students, however, point to official Austrian
returns for the year 1840 which placed the number of their coun-
trymen at 2,202,000 * and lay stress on the coefficient of increase
for the period 1870 to 1910, which is 15.5 per thousand in
Eumania and 10.8 per thousand in Hungary. Applying the
Eumanian rate to the Eumanian subjects of the Hapsburgs they
find that their kinsmen in Hungary ought to number approxi-
mately 3,536,000. Otherwise it is necessary to admit that between
1840 and 1890 Magyars increased 54 per cent, and Eumanians
only 17 per cent, in spite of the recognized fact that Eumanian
peasants have larger families than their Hungarian masters.^
Social grouping in Transylvania shows that the dominating
Hungarian class consists largely of city dwellers and government
employees. These are the characteristics of an immigrant popu-
lation which is not solidly rooted to the land. The Szekler alone
among Magyars are tillers of the soil and in intimate contact
with the land on which they live. Few of the Eumanians are land-
owners. The estates held by an insignificant number of their
kinsmen generally form part of ecclesiastical domains and are of
restricted size. They own however a relatively large proportion
of Transylvania's forested areas, which the Hungarian ruling
class is endeavoring to acquire by imitating Prussian methods of
absorption of Polish lands.
The Germans and Hungarians who founded settlements on the
Transylvanian plateau were unable to impose their language on
the inhabitants of the mountainous region. Eumanian, repre-
senting the easternmost expansion of Latin speech, is in use
today on the greatest portion of this highland " as well as in the
fertile valleys and plains surrounding it between the Dniester
and the Danube. A portion of Hungary and the Eussian province
of Bessarabia is therefore included in this linguistic unit outside
« Hungarian statistics show 2,470,000 in 1870; 2,403,000 in 1880 and 2,589,000
in 1890.
»Cf. V. Merutiu: EomSnii tntre Tisa ji Carpaji, raporturl etnograflce, Bw. Stiinti-
ficS, Vasile Adwmachi, Vol, 6, No. 2, 1915.
•N. Mazere: Harta etnografica a Transilvanei, 1:340,000, Inst. Geogr. al Armatei,
lasi, 1909.
160 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of the kingdom of Eumania.'^ Beyond the limits of this continuous
area, the only important colony of Eumanians is found around
Metsovo in Greece where, in the recesses of the Pindus moun-
tains and surrounded by the Greeks, Albanians and Bulgarians
of the plains, almost half a million Eumanians * have managed to
maintain the predominant Latin character of their language.'
Eumanian is derived directly from the low Latin spoken in the
Imperial era. In syntax and grammar it reproduces Latin forms
of striking purity. Words dealing with agricultural pursuits,
however, are generally of Slavic origin. The closeness of
Eumanian to Latin can be gathered from the following two
specimens of Wallachian verse and their Latin rendering:
1.
Rumanian
Bela in large valle ambla
Erba verde lin calca;
Canta, qui cantand plangea,
Quod todi munti resuna;
Ea in genuncM se punea,
Ochi in sus indirepta ;
Eece, asi vorbe facea;
" Domne, domne, bune domne."
2.
Rumanian
Nueu, f agu, frassinu
Mult se eerta intra sene.
" Nuce," dice frassinu,
" Quine vine, nuei college,
" Cullegend si ramuri f range
" Vaide dar de pelle a tua ;
" Dar tu fage, mi vecine,
" Que voi spune in mente tene :
" Multe fere saturasi ;
" Qui prebene nu amblasi ;
" Quum se au geru apropiat
"La pament te au si culcat,
" Si in focu te au si aruneat, . .
Latin
PueUa in larga valle ambulabat,
Herbam viridem leniter calcabat,
Cantabat et cantando plangebat,
Ut omnes montes resonarent :
Ilia in genua se ponebat,
Oeulos sursum dirigebat;
Ecce, sie verba faeiebat:
" Domine, domine, bone domine."
Latin
Nux, f agus, f raxinus,
Multum certant inter se.
" Nux," dieit f raxinus
" Quisquis venit, nuees legit,
" CoUigendo ramos f rangit :
" Vae itaque pelli tuae !
" At tu fage, mi vieine,
" Quae exponam mente tene?
" Multas f eras saturasti,
''At baud bene ambulasti;
" Quum gelu appropinquat
" Ad pavimentum de deculeant
"Ad focum averruneant, . . .
' G. Weigand: Linguistiaeher Atlas des dacormnanischen Sprachgebietes, Leipzig,
1909.
' Their number is given at 750,000 by G. Murgoc6 and P. Papahagi in " Turcia cu
privire speciala auspra Macedonlei," Bucarest, 1911.
" The total number of Bumanians in the Balkan peninsula is estimated at about
10,300,000, distributed as follows: Rumania, 5,489,296 or 92.5 per cent of the popula-
tion; Russia, 1,121,669, of whom 920,919 are in Bessarabia; Austria-Hungary, 3,224,147,
of whom 2,949,032 are in Transylvania; Greece, 373,520; Serbia, 90,000.
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 161
The prevalence of Latin in an eastern land, and in a form
which, is stated to present closer analogies with the language of
the Eoman period than with any of its western derivatives, had
its origin in the Eoman conquest of southeastern Europe in the
early part of the first Christian millennium. Occupation of the
land by important bodies of legionaries and a host of civil
administrators, their intermarriage with the natives, the advan-
tages conferred by Koman citizenship, all combined to force
Latin into current use. And when in 275 Aurelian recalled
Eoman troops from the eastern provinces of the empire, the
vernacular of Eome had taken too solid a footing on Dacian soil
to be extirpated.
Abandonment of the region by the Eomans is cited for
political reasons by the Magyar rulers of Transylvania to refute
Eumanian claims to this Hungarian province. Eumanian his-
torians, however, have been able to demonstrate the untenability
of this assumption." They have shown that many of the customs
of their country are distinctly reminiscent of Latin Italy. It is
still customary in many Eumanian villages to attach a small coin
to the finger of the dead after an ancient Eoman custom of
providing the soul with its fare across the Styx. Bands of
traveling musicians in Balkan or Hungarian cities are known to
be composed of Eumanians whenever their members carry an
instrument which is a faithful imitation of the pipes of Pan as
sculptured upon Eoman and Gallo-Eoman monuments. Eumania's
national dance, the Calusare, commemorates the rape of the
Sabines to this day. Neither does the list of these analogies end
with the examples given here. Furthermore the evidence afforded
by geography tends also to validate Eumanian claims.
From the valley of the Dniester to the basin of the Theiss the
steppes of southern Eussia spread in unvarying uniformity save
where the tableland of the Transylvanian Alps breaks their con-
tinuity. The entire region was the Dacia colonized by the
Eomans.^^ Unity of life, in this home of Eumanian nationality,
'° A. D. X6nopol; Les Roumains au Moyen-Age, Paris, 1885.
"W. E. Shepherd: Historical Atlas, New York, 1911, pp. 34, 35, 39.
162 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
has been unaffected by the sharp physical diversity afforded by
the inclosure of mountain and plain within the same linguistic
boundary. The thoroughness with which Rumanians have adapted
themselves to the peculiarities of their land is evinced by the
combination of the twin occupations of herder and husbandman
characteristic of Moldavians and Wallachians. Cattle and
flocks are led every summer to the rich grazing lands of the
Transylvania valleys. In winter man and beast seek the pastures
of the Danubian steppes and prairies. Eumanians thus maintain
mountain and plain residences, which they occupy alternately.^^
This mode of life is the transformation which the nomadism of
the Asiatic steppe received on Eumanian soil. It is a true relic
of past habitat. These seasonal migrations also account for the
intimacy between highlanders and lowlanders in Eumania, besides
affording adequate explanation of the peopling of the region by
a single nationality."
There was a time, however, when Rumanian nationality was
entirely confined to the mountain zone. Invasions which followed
the retirement of the Romans had driven Eumanians to the
shelter of the Transylvanian ranges. Perched on this natural
fortress, they beheld the irruption of Slavs and Tatars in the
broad valleys which they once held in undisputed sway. Only
after the flow of southeastern migrations had abated did they
venture to reoccupy the plains and resume their agricultural life
and seasonal wanderings.
The outstanding fact in these historical vicissitudes is that
the mountain saved the Latin character of Eumanian speech.
Had the Eomanized Dacians been unable to find refuge in the
Transylvanian Alps their language would probably have been
submerged by the Slavic or Tatar flood. As it is, the life of
Eumanians is strongly impregnated with eastern influences.
" Typical examples of seasonal migration are found in Switzerland, where condi-
tions prevailing in the higher and the lower valleys of the Alps have induced the
inhabitants to shift their residence with the seasons.
" A similar nomadism is observable among the Eumanians of the Pindus moun-
tains. Cf. A. J. B. Wade and M. S. Thompson: The Nomads of the Balkans: An
Account of Life and Customs among the Vlaohs of Northern Pindus, London, 1914.
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 163
Oddly enough its Christianity was derived from Byzantium
instead of from Rome and, were it not for a veritable renaissance
of Latinism about 1860, its affinity with the Slavic world would
be manifest with greater intensity than is apparent in the present
century.
The preservation of Eoman speech was not confined to the
Transylvanian mountain area. In spite of Rome 's waning power
in the Balkans, her language had taken such solid root in the
peninsula that it has maintained itself to this day in the Pindus
mountain region intervening between Epirus and Macedonia.
Here the Kutzo-Vlachs of the region speak a language identical
with that spoken in the last stretches of the valley of the Danube.
In Albania also the same cultural heritage has been treasured to
this day in the mountainous tangle of the land. Albanian how-
ever is further removed from Latin than Rumanian, probably on
account of less intercourse with the Eoman world.^*
The name of Kutzo-Wallachians or Aromunes is given to the
mountaineers of Rumanian speech peopling parts of Macedonia,
Albania and Thessaly. This detached band of Rumanians occu-
pies mainly the region between the mountains of the Pindus
range and the Serbian boundary. In Albania they are found
scattered along the upper reaches of the Semeni and Devoli
rivers. In Greece, the channels of the Voyussa, the Arta, the
Aspropotamos, the Bistritza and the lower Vardar likewise con-
stitute their favorite tramping grounds. A shepherd people,
roaming with their flocks, their life is spent either in the valleys
of their surmner mountain resorts or in the plains which they
favor in winter. Tribes or clans among which dialectical differ-
ences can be found occur according to locality, but they never-
theless compose when taken together a compact mass of Ruma-
nians settled far from the main body of their kinsmen by speech.
A group 5,000 to 6,000 strong live near the sources of the
Aspropotamos around Siracu, and between Kalarites and Malakasi.
Northwards this clan extends to Metsovo." In the Olympus
" About one-third of the words in Albanian are of Eomanic origin.
" Bull, pour I'Stude de I'Europe Sud-OrientOile, June, 1915, p. 112.
164 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
mountains Kumanians are known at Vlakho-Livadi and adjoining
districts. Eastwards, the Veria Eumanians are found in the
villages of Sella, Doliani and Kirolivadi. West of the latter
locality, the settlements of Vlakho-Klissura, Blatza and Sisani
are likewise composed entirely of Rumanian inhabitants. The
same is true of the villages of Nevesca, Belcamen and Pisuderi
as well as of Gramosta, in the recesses of the Gramtnos moun-
tains and of Koritza and Sipiska. Other colonies exist at Okrida,
Gopes, Krushevo, Molovista, Tirnova, Magarevo and Monastir.
The Struga and Geala settlements are also part of the preceding
groups.
Within Albanian territory the village of Frasheri is the most
important Eumanian settlement. Its name has passed to the
Frasherist group of western Eumanians. Around Berat, a strong
contingent occupies about 40 villages and can muster ten thou-
sand men. In the Vardar valley various settlements aggregating
14,000 individuals, all farmers, are distributed near Guevgueli as
well as in localities north and south of this town. Many of these
peasants are Mohammedans and speak a dialect of their own.
A Eumanian settlement is also found in the Jumaya Pass south
of Sofia and along the old Turco-Bulgarian frontier.
The nomadic character of these isolated adherents of a Latin
language is shown in many of their villages, which are occupied
during part of the year only. As an example the villages in the
vicinity of Frasheri, the ancient ''Little Wallachia," are
inhabited during winter alone. Many Frasherists can be met
along the Albanian coast between Kimara and the bay of Valona,
as well as along the eastern coast of Corfu and in villages of
the Moskopolis and Koritza districts. As a rule they are ped-
dlers and confine their commercial nomadism to profitable routes
just as pastoral nomads, who are their kinsmen, seesaw back and
forth between the mountain districts nearest th'eir plains.
The three areas of Eomance language in the Balkans attest,
by implication, the powerful influence attained by Eome in the
peninsula prior to the rise of the Slavic flood. The presence of
the Slavs began to be felt about the seventh century and two
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 165
hundred years later the Balkan peninsula had become heavily
Slavicized. Before that period, however, every nook and corner
of the land area between the Adriatic and the Black and ^'gean
seas must have been under effective Koman jurisdiction. Lanes
of travel from the coasts of Albania to the famous Thracian
rendezvous were frequented by Roman traders and colonists with
increasing regularity in the early centuries of the Christian era.
The growing estrangement of Byzantium from the west, Slavic
inroads and later Turkish advances all but destroyed the social
unity which must have characterized the Balkan region in Roman
times. Of this unity, the Rumanian and Albanian languages
alone have survived along different coasts. Both languages are
knit together structurally as well as by outward harmony.
Through the survival of Romanic languages in the Balkan
peninsula an excellent glimpse is obtained of the conditions pre-
ceding the Slavic migrations which, beginning at the end of the
third century, burst into full strength at the opening of the sixth.
The Slavic flood was both heavy and prolonged. Its strength
can be surmised from the survival of Slavic place names in the
sections of Balkan territory under Greek, Rumanian or Albanian
control. But the Slavs mastered only the drainage area of the
Danube and its tributaries. The twin basins of the Save and
Drave afforded them westerly routes of penetration without,
however, providing channels of southerly advance. The water-
shed coinciding roughly with easterly longitude 21° in Albania
and attaining the Pindus mountains therefore remained closed
land to the Slavs. As a result Albania and Macedonia are to
be considered as areas in which Romance speech once prevailed.
The signs of this linguistic relation are numerous in Albania
because the country is less open to invasion than the Macedonian
basin.
A territory of Romance languages extending continuously
from the Atlantic to the Black Sea probably existed prior to the
immigration of Slavs into southeastern Europe. The areas of
Romansh, Friulian, Ladin, Albanian and Rumanian are remnants
of this ancient language zone. Even the Slavic language of the
166 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Macedonian peasant is a layer superimposed on the linguistic
stratum prevailing before the period of Slavic invasion. It is
therefore about thirteen centuries old. The changes undergone
by the earlier form of Macedonian in this span of centuries have
been so sweeping as to obliterate altogether the character of the
pre-Slavic tongue. Eumanian vernaculars of the Pindus extended
therefore to the east and not improbably into Thrace. A claim
Fig. 43 — The easterly sweep of Eomance languages. The dotted areas are low-
lands. Eomance languages are spoken in the diagonally ruled areas. Cross-ruling
represents the connecting areas between eastern and western Romance languages.
Pindus localities in which Rumanian is spoken are indicated by R. Scale, 1:12,500,000.
upon Macedonia based on this assumption has even been put
forward by Rumanians."
No fair conception of the character of the Eumanian popula-
tion can be attained without thorough realization of the extent
to which the land has been open to the invasions of Asiatic
nomads of the steppes. The intensity of this movement can be
ascertained for the historical period. Back of that time, however,
the interminable stretch of centuries must have been character-
ized by the same inflow from the east, else the Rumanian
population would not betray today such distinctly Tatar ear-
marks. The eastern sections of the country, those nearest to,
"A. A. C. Stourdza: L'H^roisme des Koumains au Moyen-Age et le caractere de
leurs anciennes institutions, Paris, 1911.
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 167
and forming practically a continuation of Eussia, teem with
settlements of pure Tatars,
The earliest inhabitants of Eumania are tall, dark brachycephs
— the Cevenoles of Deniker's classification. This original element
has been repeatedly diluted by Slavic and Tatar percolation.
The Eoman conquest, which together with the "pax Eomana"
brought civilization to the land, was not an ethnical victory. The
Eomans, a mere minority of leaders, ruled in the land much
after the fashion in which the British govern India at present.
But this occupation of the land by men representing a superior
civilization sufficed to stamp the speech of Eome upon Eumania.
Eumania 's past differed from that of the other Balkan
nations. During the centuries in which the destiny of the ancient
world was controlled largely by Byzantine statesmen, Moldavia
and Wallachia seldom took part in the quarrels that pitted Slavs
against Greeks. Balkan conflicts seemed then to be restricted to
the populations living south of the Danube. Excellent relations
were maintained between the rulers of Eumanian principalities
and the Byzantine court. It was always felt at Constantinople,
throughout the centuries of bitter struggle against Islam's wax-
ing might, that the voivodes' aid against the Turks was assured.
After the terrible blow inflicted on Christendom by the fall
of Constantinople, the two principalities of the northern Danubian
bank managed to preserve autonomy. This is a highly significant
fact in Eumanian history, for it meant that the country was
spared the effects of racial blendings or upheavals consequent to
the Ottoman occupation of southeastern Europe. Eeligious and
national antagonism between the various elements of the Chris-
tian populations under the Sultan's rule were incessantly fostered
by the Turks as a means of consolidating their own sovereignty.
The role played by Eumania during the long period of
Christian servitude entitles the country to the gratitude of the
other Balkan states. The land beyond the Danube became a
haven to which victims of Mohammedan persecution repaired
whenever possible. Noblemen despoiled of their estates, traders
menaced with execution for having claimed payment of debts
168 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
incurred towards them by the followers of the Prophet, students
whose only crime consisted of having interpreted Christian
doctrines to their co-religionists, aU found refuge under the
banner of the cross flying on the north bank of the Danube.
Hungary itself has incurred a heavy debt of obligation to
Rumania, for both Moldavia and "Wallachia served as a buffer
against which Turkish blows directed at Magyar power spent
themselves in vain.
The province of Bukovina, once the borderland between
Rumanians and Ruthenians, has become in modern times the
meeting place of both peoples. According to recent Austrian
statistics its population is as follows :
1900 1910
Germans 159,486 168,851
Bohemians and Slovakians 596 1,005
Poles 26,857 26,210
Ruthenians 297,798 305,101
Slovenes 108 80
Serbo-Croatians 6 1
Italians 119 36
Rumanians 229,018 273,254
Hungarians 9,516 10,391
Total 723,504 784,929"
The Rumanians and Ruthenians are the oldest and most
numerous inhabitants of Bukovina. The former are generally
confined to the southeastern districts of the province while the
majority of the Ruthenians inhabit the northwest. The moun-
tainous sections are peopled by the Huzuli, a folk whose speech
and customs contain traces of Slavic influence. The remainder
' Divided according to religion, the census of 1910 shows the following figures:
Roman Catholics 98,565
Greek Catholics 26,182
Armenian Catholics 657
Orthodox Greeks 547,603
Gregorian Armenians 341
Lipps 3,232
Protestant sects 20,518
Jews 102,919
Unaccounted 86
Total 800,103
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 169
of the inhabitants of Bukovina consists of descendants of immi-
grants who settled in the province about five or six centuries ago.
Germans, mostly traders and artisans from Transylvania and
Galicia, made their first appearance in Bukovina in the four-
teenth century. Occasionally German priests and warriors
3c3/e of miles '*^
rO M 3D 40 50
FIG 44— Sketch map of the Rumanian area (diagonally ruled) in Bukovina and
Hungary. The blank area is overwhelmingly Slavic (Little Russians or Ruthenians).
The dotted patches in Hungary represent areas of Hungarian speech.
would also find their way into the province and decide to settle
permanently within its borders. A fresh impetus to German
colonization was given by the fall of Bukovina into Austrian
hands in 1774. Under the rule of Maria Theresa and Emperor
Joseph II Germans of all classes and conditions were induced to
seek the province and Germanize the land. They came as
170 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
officials, teachers, soldiers and merchants and took up their abode
generally in special cities."
This German element was derived chiefly from Swabia,
Bohemia and German Austria. The Swabians were the earliest
colonists and are found scattered in the best farming districts of
the province.^" The Zips of northern Hungary are generally
found in the mountains of southwestern Bukovina which they
had occupied originally as miners.^"
The Hungarians of Bukovina are not descendants of immi-
grants from Hungary but from Eumania. Their ancestors were
the Magyars and Szeklers who had been dispatched by Hungarian
kings to defend the passes of Transylvania. After Bukovina 's
annexation to Austria, efforts were made to induce the descend-
ants of the old frontier guardsmen to live within Austrian
boundaries. The call was heeded by many who as a result
selected Bukovina as residence. One of the earliest colonies was
founded at Istensegitz, while Hadikfalva and Andreasfalva
became sites of their settlements during the reign of Emperor
Joseph.
The Poles emigrated to the province mainly from Galicia
between the years 1786 and 1849. They are found scattered in
the larger cities, notably at Czernowitz. The Slovaks came later.
Prior to the nineteenth century they had no colonies of any
importance in Bukovina. In 1803 they appear around the glass
factories near Crasna, where they were employed as woodcutters.
Between 1830 and 1840 they founded the settlements of Neusolo-
netz and Pojana-Mikuli.
Many Bukovinan localities are inhabited by Lippowans, who
are Great Eussians and who on the basis of language are con-
sidered as Euthenians by Austrian census-takers. The Lippowans
" Czernowitz, Storozynetz, Sereth, Suczava, Eadautz, Guralnimora, Kimpolung
were among the cities moat often selected.
'•Their colonies are found at Rosh, Molodia, Tereblestie, Hliboka, St. Onufri,
Altfratanz, Milleschoutz, Arbora, Itzkani, Ilischestie, Unterstanestie, Storozynetz,
Neuzadowa.
'° Their settlements are found at Jakobeny, Kirlibaba, Luisenthal, Pozoritta,
Eisenau, Freudenthal, Bukschoja and Stulpikani.
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 171
belong to the sect of Old Believers which seceded from the
Eussian Orthodox Church in the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury. Persecution forced them to flee to neighboring countries
and they flocked in large numbers into Bukovina. Their descend-
ants now inhabit principally the towns of Mitoka-Dragomirna
and Klimutz as well as neighboring villages.
By the acquisition of Bukovina in 1777 the Hapsburgs
increased their territory by about 6,200 sq. m. (10,000 sq. km.)
and a population of 75,000 inhabitants, consisting largely of
Eumanians." Nistor estimates the population at the time of this
annexation at 56,700 Eumanians, about 15,000 Euthenians at the
most and 5,000 Huzulis, who, from the border bandits that they
were, settled finally in western Bukovina.^^ According to
Eumanian historians the Slavic element of Bukovina was
negligible in the fourteenth century. It was a common occurrence
for Euthenian peasants to escape from Polish serfdom and settle
in Moldavia, the land of free farmers. The fugitives, dribbling
on Eumanian soil in small numbers, became merged in the mass
of the native population. The consolidation of large estates in
the seventeenth century and the resulting agricultural boom
obliged landowners to induce peasants of neighboring countries
to settle in Bukovina. The emigration of many Euthenians can
be accounted for by this economic change.
After the Turkish conquest of Kamieniec-Podolski the new
provinces of the Dniester valley were populated by Slavs drawn
from among Little Eussians. The district of Hotin in eastern
Bukovina was colonized at that time. Again Sobieski's victories
over the Turks were followed by a temporary Polish occupation
of northern and western Moldavia and a renewed inflow of Slavs.
Euthenian invasion of the soil of Bukovina persisted steadily
from the eighteenth century on. Galician serfs were driven by
oppression to this hitherto unexploited territory. In 1779 the
" Today the predominance of Euthenians in Bukovina is contested by Eumanians
who claim that Austrian statistics are deliberately padded.
"I. Nistor: Eomanfl si Eutenif in Bucovina, studiu istoric si statistu, Bucarest,
1915, p. 72.
172 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
number of Euthenians in Bukovina was estimated at 21,114.
Tombstones of that date found between the Dniester and the
Pruth are almost entirely in Eumanian. In 1848 the Euthenian
element in the province numbered 108,907 against 208,293
Eumanians. The census of 1910 places the number of Eussian-
speaking inhabitants at 305,101, while the users of Eumanian are
placed at 273,254. Eumanian authorities, however, call attention
to the fact that these figures are determined on the basis of the
language most commonly used and not on that of the inherited
mother tongue.
Eumanian also holds easy predominance in the strange
medley of languages which can be heard in the Eussian province
of Bessarabia. The region forms a natural extension of Mol-
davia, east of the Pruth furrow, and has always been intimately
connected with Eumanian life. It became part of the Czar's
dominion in 1812, after the treaty of Bucarest of May 28 of
that year, but the southern part was reincorporated with the
principality of Moldavia after the Crimean war. This section
was restored, however, to Eussia by a decision of the Congress
which met in Berlin in June 1878. It has since remained Eussian
territory. These changes, no less than its position as the narrow
corridor between the Asiatic steppeland and southern Europe,
have made it the meeting land of Europe's most untutored
elements.
The broad hilly spurs bounded by the Dniester and the Pruth
contain the bulk of these Bessarabian Eumanians, who make up
half the population of the province or nearly one million souls.
Interspersed with this native element, German colonists and Bul-
garian imm igrants, — ^the latter brought wholesale in the course of
Turkey's European recessional, — and Serbian or Greek culti-
vators are to be found in many of the villages that nestle' in the
broad and smiling valleys of the low plateau. The flat marshy
tracts along the Pruth and at the mouth of the Danube are occu-
pied by Cosacks and Tatars, while a numerous gipsy element
manages to subsist on the rest of the inhabitants by juggling or
fortune telling, or frequently by pilfering.
HUNGARIAN AND RUMANIAN LANGUAGES 173
The national consolidation of the Eumanians of Bukovina, the
Banat and Bessarabia with the main body would supply a non-
Slavic linguistic wedge between Eussians and Balkan Slavs. But
apart from this linguistic difference, Eumanian life and institu-
tions present close analogies with their Eussian counterparts.
From the standpoint of the anthropologist both countries contain
a Slavic substratum strongly dUuted by Tatar infiltration.
Eeligious views nursed and cherished in the Kremlin hold
spiritual sway throughout the length and breadth of Eumania.
And yet, in spite of such strong bonds, and that of immediate
neighborhood, language with nationality remains sharply distinct
in the two kingdoms.
CHAPTEE IX
THE BALKAN PENINSULA AND ITS SERBIAN INHABITANTS
The Balkan peninsula presents in its physical features a clue
to our understanding of the development of separate languages
and nationalities within its area. Its mountainous center has
always exerted a centrifugal action on Balkan peoples. This
influence has been strengthened by the existence of important
routes to the mainland of Europe and of Asia. Throughout his-
torical times the region formed, with Asia Minor, a natural
bridge joining the east with the west. Before mankind had
begun to record its past, it had afforded a natural passage for
the westerly migrations of Asiatic peoples. Today the region
bids fair to maintain the same connecting role. But in future
the human stream appears destined to be directed towards the
east.
Physical environment forced Asiatic tribes to rove because the
barren steppes of their birthplace failed to provide more than
could be harvested at a single halt. These ancestors of the
modern Khirgiz poured into Europe from protohistoric times.
They were herded along by nature toward that most favored par-
allel of latitude, the fortieth, near which civilization has flourished
preeminently. In their quest for sustenance they wandered along
a path that led far into Europe as well as toward the smiling
regions bordering the Mediterranean basin. Here fertility of soil
and propitious climate rendered settlement possible.
How readily the peninsula affords easy access between Europe
and Asia can be gathered from the map. The narrow water-
course which begins at the ^gean mouth of the Dardanelles and
extends to the Black Sea entrance of the Bosporus provides, at
both its extremities, the shortest fording places between the two
continents. At Chanak, on the Dardanelles, about one mile and
174
Fig. 46 — A bit of Sarajevo with ample evidenee of former Turkisli rule over the
Serbians of Bosnia.
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 175
a half of channel separates the peninsula of Gallipoli from the
Anatolian coast. The very outline of the European shore is
symbolical, for in the Thracian and Gallipoli promontories the
Balkan peninsula seems to stretch out two welcoming arms to
Asia and thus invite intercourse. South of the straits, the deeply
indented coast lines of Greece and of Asia Minor teemed with
matchless harbors. Their shores became the birthplace of adven-
turous sailors. The ^gean itself, with its numerous islands,
provided so many stepping-stones jutting out of its choppy
waters to aid daring pioneers in their expeditions.
Every race of Europe and of western Asia has marched at
some time or other through the valleys that extend in varying
width between the uplifts rising south of the Danube and the
Save. The attempt to determine the original element is almost
futile in the face of the constant stream of invaders. To go back
only to the period following the one in which the Thracians
dotted the southeastern area with their quaint tumuli we find the
peninsula already settled by lUyrians on its western border. The
Albanians are supposed to be direct descendants of this ancient
people. Secluded in their mountain fastnesses from contact with
subsequent invaders of the peninsula, they best represent today
the type of the peninsular inhabitant of about 2000 b.c. To the
east the basin of the Danube was peopled subsequently by
Dacians and Gaetes, who presumably were the ancestors of the
peasants now occupying the Dobrudja.
North of the boundary-defining rivers dwelt the Scythians and
the Sarmatians. The story of their migrations is the same for
different epochs. It tells either of the appearance of sturdy bar-
barians before whose dash the settlers, somewhat effete on
account of acquired comfort, give way. Or else it is the tale of
the settler who has had time to organize his forces into orderly
fighters and whose disciplined bands go forth to conquer new ter-
ritory at the behest of his civilization. Thus did Eoman legions
sweep away the barriers to the acquisition of new colonies.
Following the Eoman occupation of the peninsula a steady
flow of uncouth northerners began to appear. Under the names
176 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of Sarmatians, Goths of various sorts, Huns, Bulgarians to
whom the Byzantines gave their appellation because they came
from the banks of the Volga, and Avars, they spread havoc far
beyond the western limits of the Adriatic. These barbarians
were followed by Slavs. The eastbound journeys of the Cru-
saders next intervene; then a final mighty onslaught of Turkish
hordes whose savage fury seemed for a moment to obliterate
the laboriously-reared western civilization.
To this bewildering succession of human types the extraor-
dinary complexity of stock characterizing the present population
of the peninsula is directly ascribable, each race or people having
left some trace of its passage. The compilation of an ethno-
graphical map of the region results in the representation of the
most mosaic-like surface imaginable. Nor are the actual evi-
dences of these ancient invasions lacking to the observant eye.
Take, for instance, the fair-haired, blue-eyed Greeks, totally devoid
of traces of nigrescence, who are by no means uncommon in
Macedonia.^ In them the Nordic type, due in part to the Achaean
conquerors, has survived. To this day the tourist, wandering in
any town formerly occupied by the Turks, may suddenly behold
in the streets as pure a Mongolian type as is to be found on the
highlands of western central China. In the Bosnian town of
Sarajevo, as in the Macedonian villages north of the ^'gean, the
ugly features of these Asiatics often reveal but too plainly their
origin.
Traces of these wanderings have lingered in the relics of
former habitat observable in Balkan countries. Any one whom
fate has made the guest of Turkish hosts will remember how
toward bedtime rolled bundles leaning vertically against the
corners of the rooms are brought out and laid open on the floor.
These are the beds which the members of the household use.
They consist of a mattress, sheets and blankets which had been
removed during the day from the mat over which it is customary
to spread them at night. Although it is centuries since the Turk
' I have also seen this type among Anatolian Greeks. It is observable among
Greeks living in New York.
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 177
has ceased living in tents, he still adheres to this custom of his
nomad forefathers. The fact is observable in the two-storied
dwellings of the Mohammedan sections of Adrianople or Con-
stantinople. But the practical conversion of bedrooms into sitting
rooms is only one of the many phases of Turkish indoor life
which recall tent life. Eooms altogether destitute of furniture
are quite usual. I am now referring to the average Turkish home
— not to the relatively few in which European customs are
observed. In the majority of cases the only furniture consists
of rugs spread on the walls and floors. Articles of household use
are kept in closets. No chairs or tables help to relieve the bare-
ness. At meals the family will squat in groups around circular
trays supported on low stools. A bowl of "yoghurt," or curdled
milk, is the invariable accompaniment of each repast. Indul-
gence in this preparation is observable with similar frequency in
a broad belt which begins in the Balkan peninsula and extends
eastward between parallels 45° and 35° of latitude to Mongolia.
Signs pointing to Asiatic origins can likewise be witnessed out-
side the houses in Turkish cities. The national coat of arms,
conspicuously displayed over the gates of government buildings,
bears two horsetails surmounting the Prophet's coat. In this
emblem we see Tatar chieftains' insignia of rank which have been
coupled to Mohammedan symbolism.
In this same line of thought we find that traditions furnish
evidence of a remarkably significant character. A tradition
flourishes to this day among the Turks that their occupation of
European territory could not be permanent. Often have I heard
this voiced by Turks who simultaneously added by way of
explanation that it could not be otherwise, since they were
Asiatics. It is this feeling which lies at the root of the Turk's
unwillingness to be buried on the European side of the Bosporus
or the Dardanelles. The same sentiment accounts for their rela-
tively larger burying grounds along the Asiatic shores bordering
the peninsula, as compared with those on the European coast.
In the present era of world-wide industrial expansion, the
Balkan region retains its place as one of the most notable of
178 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
international highways. So centrally is the peninsula situated
with reference to Europe, Asia and Africa that its valleys afford
the most convenient overland passage for the products of
European ingenuity and science on their way to market in the
populous centers of Asia and Africa. Even the air line connecting
central Europe and India passes over the Balkans. The supe-
riority of the Mediterranean-Red Sea route over the other
avenues of traffic leading from west to east led to the construction
of the Suez Canal. The advantages of this line still exist. With
the march of events, however, the main commercial thoroughfare
from Europe to the Orient is shifting gradually from the waters
between the Eurasian and African continents to a more easterly
and at the same time far speedier overland route. The tracks of
the Oriental, Anatolian and Bagdad railroad companies form at
present the northern section of the trunk of this system. Inci-
dentally, it should be noted that nature's provision for this world
route is so well marked in the Balkan peninsula that the luxurious
cars of the Orient Express roll over a steel-clad path which coin-
cides remarkably with the trail followed by the first crusade —
the one which Godfrey de Bouillon led along a path marked by
nature. The prolongation of these railroads to Delhi and the
shores of the Indian Ocean by junction with the railroads of
British India advancing toward the northwest is now economically
desirable.
Through connection with the Cape of Good Hope by way of
Ma 'an and the Egyptian frontier, over the Sinai peninsula and
the Cape-to-Cairo line, will probably be exacted by the require-
ments of trade. In that case raUroad ferries over the Bosporus
wiU enable the same car to be hauled directly from the coast
of the Baltic Sea to the shores of the Indian Ocean or to
cities at the southernmost points of Africa. There is reason to
believe, however, the Bosporus will be crossed by a bridge over
the half mile of sea that separates the European and Asiatic
fortresses facing each other at Rumeli Hissar.
"Within the Balkan peninsula every economic need which has
determined the foreign policy of the several states is related to
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 179
180 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
a given feature of the land. The seaward thrust of Serbia
towards the Adriatic is naturally directed along the narrow Drin
valley, cutting across the long chain of the Dinaric Alps. But
the country's efforts to obtain mastery of this important gap
were blocked by the creation of an independent Albania. Bul-
garia's trade and industrial development is likewise hampered
by the lack of a favorable issue towards southern seas. At
present the connection between the east-west mountainous country
formed by the Balkan ranges and the lowland extending to the
^gean involves the climbing of steep slopes. Bulgarians there-
fore naturally coveted the Struma valley which runs in Greek
territory to the west of the Chalcidic peninsula. The Montene-
grins living in a rocky land which cannot support its inhabitants
look covetously on the narrow defiles which lead towards the
Adriatic and their longing for Scutari is merely for the posses-
sion of agricultural lands. War with the Turks once forced
them to retreat into their mountains. Now that that danger is
over they are coming out of their fastnesses and endeavoring to
resume intercourse with the outside world.
Geography is therefore stamping its impress on the political
status of the modem inhabitants of the Balkan peninsula. We
have just seen how this region forms a section of a great inter-
national commercial route. Coupling this fact with industrial
requirements which find expression in the demand for unham-
pered right of way for products of toil and thought in transit to
market, it can be understood how great European powers keenly
desire to secure control, or at least maintenance of equal rights
of passage, over an avenue so happily situated. The matter is
vital because it is based on economic grounds. Continued opera-
tion of many Old World factories, or their shut-down, often
depends on conditions prevailing on the site of that battle royal
of diplomacy known as the Eastern Question. The matter of
Serbia's access to the Adriatic or the withholding of Austria's
acquiescence to Montenegrin occupation of Scutari must, there-
fore, be ultimately explained by the geographical causes which
have converted the peninsula into a highway of such importance
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 181
that the paramount influence of a single nation over its extension
cannot be tolerated by the others. A clear view of this funda-
mental principle leads us to realize that the presentation of an
ultimatum to Serbia by Austria on July 23, 1914, was the pre-
liminary step toward opening a pathway for Germany and
Austria to Salonica and Constantinople. Then, as soon as
Austro-German power should be solidly established athwart the
Bosporus, the intention was to secure control of the land routes
to Egypt, the Persian Gulf and India.
As matters stand at present the balance of power oscillates
between two groups represented by Teutonic and Slavonic ele-
ments respectively. Their clashing zone is the Balkan peninsula.
The "Drang nach Osten" of Pan-Germanism found concrete
geographical expression on the map, in 1908, by Austria's final
absorption of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A further step in the
same direction was marked by the creation of a new Balkan
nation, Albania. All this was a result of efforts to obtain control
of the remarkable highway we have been considering. This
easterly spread was hampered, however, by the steady southerly
progress made by the Balkan countries. Their victories in 1912
and 1913 lengthened perceptibly Russia's southwesterly strides
toward ice-free coasts. The process taken as a whole is one of
recurrence. Time has converted the stream of early Asiatic
invaders into these two opposing currents. The Teutons are now
repeating the exploits of the Greeks, the Macedonians, the
Byzantines and the Crusaders. The Slavs, whose differentiation
from Altaic ancestors has not been as thorough as that of their
western neighbors, are likewise playing anew the part of their
forefathers seeking milder regions by way of the Balkan
peninsula.
South of the Hungarian and Slovene linguistic zones the
Austro-Hungarian domain comprises a large portion of the area
of Serbian speech. The language predominates everywhere from
the Adriatic coast to the Drave and Morava rivers as well as up
to the section of the Danube comprised between its points of con-
fluence with these two rivers. Serbian in fact extends slightly
182 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
east of the Morava valley towards the Balkan slopes lying north of
the Timok river, where Rumanian prevails as the language of
the upland.^ To the south contact with Albanian is obtained.
The area of Serbian speech thus delimited includes the inde-
pendent kingdoms of Montenegro ' and Serbia. Within the terri-
tory of the Dual Monarchy it is spoken in the provinces of
Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Dalmatia. The
language is therefore essentially that of the region of uplift
which connects the Alps and the Balkans or which intervenes
between the Hungarian plain and the Adriatic,
Union between the inhabitants of this linguistic area is some-
what hampered by the scission of Serbians into three religious
groups. The westernmost Serbs, who are also known as Croats,
adhere to the Roman Catholic faith in common with all their
kinsmen the western Slavs. Followers of this group are rarely
met east of the 19th meridian. A Mohammedan body consisting
of descendants of Serbs who had embraced Islam after the
Turkish conquest clusters round Sarajevo as a center. The bulk
of Serbians belong, however, to the Greek Orthodox Church.
Cultural analogies between the Mohammedan and orthodox
groups are numerous. Both use the Russian alphabet, whereas
the Croats have adopted Latin letters.
Much has been made in interested quarters of the difference
between Catholic Croat and Orthodox Serb. Intrigues directed
from Vienna and Budapest have sought to accentuate these differ-
ences and to foment hatred where Christian charity would
speedily have produced concord and understanding. Even in
Russia, there have been fears lest close political contact between
Serb and Croat dilute the purity of Serb orthodoxy. In other
quarters political ambition has made use of divergence of creed
as a pretext for seeking to perpetuate political division between
' Serbian authorities usually extend the zone of their vernacular to points farther
east. Cf. J. Cvijii: Die ethnographische Abspreuzung der Volker auf der Balkan-
halbinsel, Pet. Mitt., Vol. 59, 1913, No. 1, pp. 113-118.
' Montenegro is peopled by descendants of Serbians who took refuge in its moun-
tains after the crushing defeat of Serbia by Turkey on the battlefield of Kossovo in
1389.
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 183
Languages
fCzeoA
LA/oraviezn.
\SlovaJc
x^^y/\ Serbo-Croat tajt
Religions
\j MohammedanSerbs
-J- RomanCaiholic Serbs
(other SerbsOrthodoxi
Fig. 48 — Sketch map of Austria showing westernmost extension of Slavs and their
languages in Europe, The German-Hungarian wedge between northern and southern
Slavs is shown. The small cross-ruled patches are areas of Rumanian language.
184 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the two main brajaches of the southern Slav race. But a Ser-
bian saying, which can be heard iu Bosnia, Croatia or Monte-
negro, is the best refutation of the existence of any political
differences between Serbs of different creeds. "Brat yay mio
Koye vieray bio," "A brother is always dear whatever
his religion. ' ' A simple phrase, but one with national signifi-
cance.
The Serbo-Croatian group made its appearance in the Balkan
peninsula at the time of the general westerly advance of Slavs
in the fifth and sixth centuries. A northwestern body of this
people, wandering along the river valleys leading to the eastern
Alpine foreland, settled in the regions now known as Croatia
and Slavonia. Here the sea and inland watercourses provided
natural communication with western Europe. Evolution of this
northwestern body of Serbians into the Croatians of our day was
facilitated by the infiltration of western ideas. But the great
body of Serbians, occupying the mountainous area immediately
to the south, had their foreign intercourse necessarily confined to
eastern avenues of communication. They therefore became per-
meated with an eastern civilization in which Byzantine strains
can be easily detected.
In spite of these cultural divergences, the linguistic differ-
entiation of the Croat from the Serbian element has been slight.
The Serbian sound of "ay" is generally pronounced "yay" by
Bosnians and "a" by Dalmatians. The Croatian "tcha" cor-
responds to the "chto" of the Serbian. As a rule variations are
slight, and natives of the different districts not only understand
each other, but can also detect respective home districts quite
readily on hearing each other.
Today the political aspirations of this compact mass of
Serbians are centered around the independent kingdom of Serbia,
which is regarded as the nucleus around which a greater Serbia
comprising all the Serbian-speaking inhabitants of the Balkan
peninsula will group. This Serbo-Croatian element is estimated
to comprise at least 10,300,000 individuals.* The southern Slav
* J. Erdeljanovic: Broj Srba i Khrvata, Belgrade, 1911.
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 185
question centers chiefly around the fate of those unredeemed
populations. The Near Eastern Question cannot be settled with-
out cutting away from Austria-Hungary, and uniting with Serbia
and Montenegro, aU the southern Slav provinces of the Haps-
burg crown. It is stated of Metternich that he had openly pro-
claimed his belief in the necessity of annexing Serbia to either
Turkey or Austria. That was in the day, however, when popular
claims counted for little.
Southern Slav unity and independence are both necessary to
Europe. Serbia, or rather Serbo-Croatia or "Jugoslavia," is
reared on a land-gap that provides Europe with a gateway to
the east. The freedom of Balkan peoples and to a great extent
the freedom of Europe depend upon the power of the southern
Slavs to hold the gate. It is therefore to the advantage of
European countries to strengthen the southern Slavs by every
means in their power. A partial unity that would leave any
considerable portion of Jugoslavia unredeemed would but divert
southern Slav energy into irredentist channels and deflect it from
its chief mission.
The ties which unite Serbians and Croatians have led writers
to consider the two peoples as one under the name of Serbo-
Croatians.^ In the eleventh century Skilitzer, a, Byzantine writer,
alludes to the "Croatians, who are called Serbians." Little dis-
tinction was made between their tribes when they first made their
appearance in Balkan lands. Both peoples are Slavs and it is
not unlikely that they are derived from a common stock. The
location of the territory they occupied affords a clue to the origin
of differences between them. Their homelands lie on the confines
of the two Eoman empires which ruled respectively over eastern
and western Europe. It was natural that some groups of the
Serbo-Croatian element should follow the religious leadership of
Eome while others rallied to the Orthodox teachings of Byzan-
tium. The main distinction between Serbians and Croatians is
found in this diversity of religious views.
' E. Haumant: La nationality serbo-croate, Ann. de Giogr., No. 127, Vol. 23,
Jan. 15, 1914, pp. 45-59.
186 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
From a geographical standpoint the area of Serbian speech
presents excessive diversity of features. National unity within
its bounds is therefore apt to be sorely hampered. Dalmatia,
teeming with islands and fiords, enjoys the advantage of easy
access to all its districts by way of the sea. The Dinaric Alps
separate it, however, from the land of the ancient kingdom of
Serbia which arose on the basins of the Save and Morava. The
two areas form in reality isolated compartments. A capital
suitable to both cannot be located. Belgrade or Nish is appro-
priate enough for the valley of the Danube, Spalato or Ragusa
for the coastland. Uskub is perhaps more centrally situated on
the road connecting the Danube to the Adriatic. But this city
also belongs to the eastern watershed of the isolating mountains.
Whatever be the political destiny of this linguistic area, it is
bound to be divided into two parts with outlets respectively on
the Adriatic and the Danube.
Between the sixth and thirteenth centuries, the Serbian
invaders of the Balkan peninsula grouped themselves into a
number of independent tribes. The Serbian state to which the
smaller units adhered politically came into being in the thirteenth
century. That it was inhabited by a prosperous people is proven
by numerous works of art which are still preserved in the
churches of the land. A hundred years later the kingdom of
Serbia attains its widest extension. Under Stephen Dushan, the
country spreads from the Black Sea to the Adriatic and from the
Danube and Save valleys to the ^gean. In 1346 Dushan is
crowned emperor at Uskub. He is about to march on Constan-
tinople, but death puts an end to this project. Henceforth
Serbian power is to be on the wane. The appearance of the Turks
in the Balkans in the last decade of the fourteenth century marks
the end of Serbian independence. In the ensuing four hundred
years, Serbian lands and their inhabitants are the prey of
merciless Asiatics. The devastating grip of Turkish oppression
begins to be relaxed in 1815 when, under the leadership of
Miloch Obrenovitch, the Serbians laid the foundation of their
modem independence by forcing the Turks to grant them a
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 187
partial self-government. Thence to tlie year 1867 political
emancipation from Turkey progressed steadily.
The Adriatic Sea alone provides the Serbo-Croatian peoples
with a definite boundary. The line of the Drave on the north
once formed a frontier for the twin group. In modern times a
number of Croatian settlements have pushed forward along the
Eaab valley toward Slovak territory. Here they stand in danger
of becoming lost in the midst of the Hungarian population, as
were the Serbian settlements which in the seventeenth century
were scattered as far as Budapest. On the southwest, the
boundary of the Serbian linguistic area presents many obstacles
to accurate delimitation. There was a time when all northern
Albania was part of the Serbian empire. In the eleventh cen-
tury the Serbian kingdom, established in the Lake Scutari
district, comprised Albanian populations within its boundaries.
Immediately before the Turkish conquest Serbian language and
customs had advanced as far south as Epirus. The coming of
the Asiatics caused profound changes in the distribution of
Balkan populations through the conversions to Mohammedanism
by which it was attended. Many Serbians who had penetrated
to the south and a large number of Albanians became followers
of the Prophet. Their descendants became "Turks" and as such
endured the vicissitudes which marked the decline of Ottoman
power. The Serbian element lost its individuality in the midst
of Albanians. A record of its former advance in northern
Albania subsists in the Serbian villages which are scattered in
the region.
Small areas of Serbian are found at Zumberak and Mariondol
on the southern slope of the Uskok mountains in Croatia near
the Carniola boundary. These Serbian groups occur on the border
line separating Croats from Slovenes. They were founded by
refugees from the south and east who had settled in the military
confines of the Empire previous to 1871. In 1900 the population
of Mariondol consisted of a few hundred inhabitants, many of
whom have since emigrated to the United States. In Zumberak
for the same year the number of inhabitants was estimated at
188 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
11,842, of whom 7,151 were "uniats" and 4,691 Catholics.' The
conversion of these Serbians from Greek orthodoxy was accom-
plished in the eighteenth century.
Scattered Serbian settlements are found between the Danube
and Theiss valleys as far north as Maria-Theresiopel and farther
south at Zombor and Neusatz. The rich corn-growing districts
southeast of Fiinfkirchen (Pechui) contain some of the most
important Serbian centers in Hungary. Serbian is the language
of the entire district of confluence of the Theiss and Danube as
well as of many colonies in the Banat of Temesvar. Eeligious
diversity alone has prevented fusion of these Serbians with the
Hungarian majority of the land. Whenever they come into con-
tact with Rumanians of the same religion the Serbians lose
ground and become merged in the bosom of the Latin population.
"A Rumanian woman in the house," says the Serbian proverb,
"means a Rumanian home." Such Rumanian households are
now solidly established north and south of the Danube valley in
the northeastern angle of Serbia where a century ago they were
practically non-existent.''
Among these Serbian settlements of southern Hungary those
in the Banat of Temesvar are the most important. Temesvar
itself although an ancient seat of Serbian voivodes " contains
fewer Serbians than Germans and Hungarians. The Slavs
however occupy the western part of the Banat and form
majorities between Zombor and Temesvar, Becherek and Pan-
chova. Around Maria-Theresiopel (also known as Subotica or
Szabadka) the Serbian element contains many Roman Catholics
— the so-called Bunjevci, who were emigrants from former
Turkish provinces, mainly Herzegovina.
The old sanjak of Novibazar, which became part of Serbia
after the last Balkan war, is largely Serbian in people and
* N. Zupanic: Zumbercani i Marindolci, prilog antropologii i etnografiji Srba u
Kranjskoj Prosvetni Glasnik, Belgrade, 1912.
' E. Eaumant: La nationality serbo-croate, Ann. de Giogr., No. 127, Vol. 23,
Jan. 15, 1914, p. 48.
'A. Evans: The Adriatic Slavs and the Overland Route to Constantinople, Oeogr.
Journ., Vol. 47, No. 4, April 1916, p. 251.
Fig. 49.
^*fe
■M-
■'■'l^::
■■I-
YlQ, 40 — Tlic Iji-iikeii aspect of the I )aliiial iaii ciiastlainl is stnuif^'ly re]
in t]iis vie«- of Liis>,inpieei)lo and >un-niiii(liii:;' islets.
Fig. .50 — Usual landscape in iiioinilainoiis ^lonlenegro.
•resented
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 189
speech. In the long centuries of Mohammedan rule the Turks
had become possessors of the majority of cultivated lands. But
the task of farming was left entirely in the hands of the Serbian
peasants — ^whether of Mohammedan creed and known as Bosh-
naks, or Christians. The Moslem element as a rule resided in
the towns which grew around a castle or fortress.
From the twelfth to the fourteenth century the great com-
mercial route which led from the Adriatic at Eagusa to Nish and
Byzantium passed through Sienitza and Novibazar. Prosperity
never since equaled flowed with the commerce from Venetian
cities and the Dalmatian coast to the Orient. The districts of
the sanjak then boasted of denser and wealthier populations.
The Turkish conquest, however, diverted this trade route into
the Morava valley with the result that the erstwhile frequented
sanjak became almost completely isolated and neglected. iWest
of the Lim the sanjak has always been predomiiiantly Serbian.
East of this river the pure Serbian type is preserved in the dis-
tricts of Stari Vlah, Novi Varosh and Berane. The region's
earliest inhabitants are found in the secluded gorges of the Tara
and the Ograyevitza tableland. Albanian settlements are met
in Peshtera and Eoshai.
Like Albania, Bosnia was originally peopled by lUyrians, a
people of Alpine race whose living representatives are found
among the Skipetars or rockmen of Albania. Although the land
was conquered by the Eomans, its inhabitants were never thor-
oughly Eomanized. The mountainous character of Bosnia accounts
for this failure of Latinism. Many traces of the Eoman invasion
are being continually discovered on the sites of ancient military
camps and in inscriptional remains which are frequently unearthed
in the territory comprised between the Adriatic and the Danube.
Dalmatia and Pannonia were the two provinces into which the
Romans had subdivided the region for administrative purposes.
The Slavs who began to appear in the middle of the sixth cen-
tury left a deep impress on the inhabitants. The influence of
these latest comers is the only one that has prevailed to our day.
The coming of Hungarians in Europe may be likened to a
190 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
wedge driven into the mass of Slavic populations. The success
of these Asiatics brought about the separation of the southern
Slavs from their northern kinsmen. In the course of these
adjustments Bosnia and its inhabitants became part of the
kingdom of Croatia which originated in the valleys of the Drave
and Save. The province was administered by a Ban, who,
though a vassal of the Croatian crown, always managed to retain
a certain measure of independence."
After the Hungarian conquest of Croatia, the Bans were
allowed to maintain their rule. Their policy consisted in culti-
vating friendly relations with the ruling element and at the same
time in drawing closer to the Serbian populations in the east.
The intimate connection between Serbia and Bosnia dates from
the end of the twelfth century. Two hundred years later Stephen
Turtko, the son of Serbia's greatest monarch, was crowned king
of Serbia, Bosnia and the Littoral provinces at the shrine of
Saint Sava. But the independence of Greater Serbia was short-
lived. Hungarian arms were soon in the ascendant and Bosnia
became a prey of feudal lords — a land divided against itself.
The Turks found it in this condition in the fifteenth century
and easily subdued its petty princes. They used their rights of
conquest to force Mohammedanism on the Bosnians. The mass
of the landed gentry accepted the Arabic faith in order to retain
possession of their property. Many of the Bosnian Moham-
medans are descended from adherents of Bogomil heresies
who welcomed this method of finding relief from persecution.
The fanaticism of these converts and that of their descendants
became noteworthy even in the midst of Turkish religious
intolerance. It has delayed the expulsion of the Turks from this
region, prevented the consolidation of Bosnia with Serbia in the
early years of the nineteenth century and finally paved the way
for the Teutonic advance towards eastern lands.
The Austrian occupation of Bosnia in 1879 was followed by
a current of German immigration. The new settlers came from
Germany and the German-speaking provinces of Austria. To
' G, Blondel: La Bosnie, Bull. Soc. Norm, de G4ogr., Jan.-March 1912, p. 18.
BALKAN PENINSULA AND SERBIAN INHABITANTS 191
weaken Serbian influence in the land the flow of this human tide
was fa\ored by the government. Engaging terms were offered
to the colonists. The land they took up was turned into home-
steads which became the property of the settler on easy terms,
and after ten years ' occupation Bohemians, Poles and Euthenians
were also lured to Bosnia. The Posavina district teems with
these Slav immigrants. German peasants however were con-
sidered the most desirable element in the eyes of Austrian
officials. Through this migration Windhorst is now peopled
mainly by Germans from the Ehine provinces and Eudolfthal by
Tyrolese. Swabians from Hungary founded a large colony at
Franz-Josefsfeld, while Germans from the same country created
settlements at Branjevo and Dugopolje. Although these German
emigrants constitute a numerically unimportant fraction of the
Bosnian population, their presence has sufficed to warrant them
the solicitude of Pan-Germanist writers in whose works they are
referred to as "Our German brothers of Bosnia." "
By its geography, no less than racially, Bosnia is an integral
portion of Serbia. For over a thousand years Bosnians and
Serbians have had a mutually common civilization. The same
historical and political vicissitudes have been shared by the two
peoples. Common economic aims and the identity of inhabited
territory have furthermore acted as unifying factors. Whatever
be the name applied to Croats, Dalmatians, Slavonians, Bosnians
or Serbs, all speak the Serbian language. All have striven for
centuries to promote their individuality as a nation. To help
them realize therdselves as a political unit merely implies fur-
thering the process begun by nature.
•» C. Diehl : En IKditerranf e, Paris, 1912.
CHAPTER X
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA
The Serbian linguistic area, noticed in the preceding chapter,
is both the political and physical link connecting central Europe
with the Balkan peninsula. Beyond Serbia, to the south or south-
east, the true Balkan domain is reached. This region is occupied
chiefly by Greeks and Bulgarians. The Albanian and Rumanian
populations of its western section, although distinct in speech,
nevertheless lack the cultural and historical background required
in the formation of nationality.
The Albanians inhabit the rugged lands which were known as
niyricum and Epirus in classical times. Secluded within the
narrow, trough-shaped relics of ancient mountain folding, the
natives had no immediate contact with their Greek neighbors on
the south, or with Serbians on the north. Hence Albanian has
survived in the most inaccessible portions of the Dinaric rocky
country. In its grammar Skip or Modern Albanian is exclusively
Aryan in form. Nevertheless only four hundred entries out of
a total of 5,140 listed in G. Meyers' Etymological Dictionary of
Albanian can be classified as unalloyed old Indo-European. The
intrusion of Tatar modified into Turkish words is considerable
and amounts to no less than 1,180 words. Romanic enters intO'
the total to the extent of 1,420 forms, thus predominating. Some
840 words are Greek, while 540 are of Slavic origin.
In the belief of some etymologists the name Albania is related
to the old Celtic form Alb or Alp, which means mountain. Com-
parison with the Celtic form "Albanach," used in Scotch
vernacular to name the mountainous section of Scotland, is of
utmost interest and significance. The Albanians, however, do not
call themselves by this name. They designate themselves as
Skipetars or rockmen, and apply this appellation indiscriminately
192
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 193
to all the inhabitants of Upper and Lower Albania who do not
use Greek, Serbian or Eumanian as a vernacular. Many resem-
blances in the language spoken by Albanians and Rumanians
point to a probable early association of the two peoples.
Albania is still a land of mystery. Few European travelers
have ventured within its inhospitable coniines. It is a country
without a master, a country where the head of every family is
sole ruler of his inherited plot of land. It is scantily populated.
Its inhabitants are divided into hostile groups by religion and
tribal rivalry. No common aim on which to found nationality
exists among them. The only bond that holds them together is
perhaps their intolerance of alien authority.
Latitude divides the Skipetars into two main groups. A
northern branch is known by the name of Gheks, while the dwellers
of southern Albania go by the name of Tosks. The Skumbi
river vaUey, running at right angles to the Adriatic, separates
the country into the two sections inhabited by each of these
peoples. Each of these branches is further divided by religion
into Mohammedans and Christians. The Christian Gheks inhabit
principally the valleys of the Drin and the Mati. The powerful
Mirdite clan draws its adherents from this group. They are
Roman Catholics and strongly under Italian influence, which
dates back to the beginnings of Venetian trading on the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean. The Christian Tosks have been
affected by the views of the Eastern Church. Almost all
recognize the religious authority of the Phanariot clergy. The
Mirdites form a compact community to the south of the Drin.
The group consists of some 300,000 individuals scattered over a
territory about 375 sq. m. in extent. An hereditary chief is
acknowledged head of the clan, his authority being even recog-
nized by many non-Mirdite tribes. "With their allies the Mirdites
number approximately half a million souls while the elan's
sphere of influence extends over a territory about 1,000 sq. m.
in area.
Both of the Christian groups of the Albanian people have
been mercilessly persecuted by the Mohammedan element, which
19 J. FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
represents the landed gentry and nobility of tlie country. The
name of Arnaut applies generally to the Mohammedan Albanians.
All are descendants of converts who embraced Islam at the time
of the Turkish invasion. By adopting the faith of their con-
querors, they were allowed to retain possession of their farms
and property. The Christians became serfs, and were set to
work on the lands under a system of feudal servitude which was
exceedingly onerous.
The inhabitants of Albania are totally devoid of national
feeling.^ Various causes militate against national unity. Primeval
patriotism, expressed by love of tribe rather than of country, is
one of them. Furthermore the peculiar shape of their country
transforms it into a number of compartment-like areas beyond
which tribal activity rarely extends. The setting up of an inde-
pendent state in 1913 was a purely political move undertaken by
Austrian statesmen to prevent Serbian expansion to the Adriatic.
Within the boundaries determined by the ambassadorial confer-
ence held in London, in that year strife and dissensions prevail
now as intensely as during the Turkish regime. Natives of the
northern sections of the country speak Serbian dialects and favor
union with Serbia or Montenegro rather than independence.
Malisori tribesmen fought side by side with Montenegrin troops
in the fall of 1912 as their ancestors had done in the campaign
of 1711 against the Turks. The Albanians of Ipek, however, gave
assistance to Turkish regulars. The inhabitants of the valley of
the upper Morava sent supplies to Serbian troops against which
the chieftains of central Albania led their men. The purest type
' Reliable estimates of the population of Albania are given by Petrovich in " Servia :
Her People, History and Aspirations," London, 1915, p. 175. According to this author
the country is inhabited by:
Arnauts (Mohammedans) 350,000
Tosks (Orthodox) 350,000
Mirdites (Roman Catholics) 300,000
Serbs (Orthodox) 250,000
Greeks ( Orthodox) 150,000
Bulgarians ( Orthodox) 50,000
Turks (Mohammedans) 50,000
Total -^ 1,500,000
Fig. 51.
-"^
«?i^^^^
L^
w&%
■■■-:.
-,• "^^T^'^^^j
M*,--
Pr^-v^
.,1?^^
Fio. r,2.
^%
I'iG.s. .■)! and .li — Alljaiiiaiis in native cnsUiine. The men sliown in tlie upper
pliotOKiapli aic ■ Ariiamls " or Mohammedans. The lo\\er illustratiini sliows two
Allianians of the .shepherd class.
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 195
of Albanian found in the vicinity of Elbassan, Koritza and
Valona^ is practically submerged in a sea of Greeks. Under
these circumstances, partition of the country between Greece and
Serbia might not be incompatible with native aspirations.
Political stability could be obtained in this case without paying
attention to linguistic unity. Nevertheless Albania is not with-
out national boundaries. The valley of the Drin and the range
of the Pindus have left their mark in the development of the
Albanian people, while the sea on the west provides the country
with a most desirable confine.
On the east and south, the limits of Albanian language and
nationality become indefinite owing to the intermingling of
foreign populations. In. the Ipek district, along the northeast
corner of the country, two centuries of Albanian invasions have
failed to insure preponderance of the Albanian over the Serbian
element. Nevertheless at the London ambassadorial conference
in 1913 Albania was awarded the only available road between
Montenegro and Serbia. The route, cut in the mountainous
tangle which characterizes this region, follows the Clementi gap,
a district settled by shepherds of the tribe of the same name.
The Prokleita mountains allotted to Albania form here a natural
boundary. The inclusion of this uplift within Serbian territory
would have enabled the Serbians to maintain communication
with their Montenegrin kiusmen. Albanians would have lost
little in the transaction, as can well be inferred from the name
of the mountain, which is Serbian for ''accursed."
A small strip of ilontenegrin territory which extends from
Podgoritza to the sea at Antivari and Dulcigno is peopled almost
exclusively by about 10,000 Albanians. This district was annexed
to Montenegro by the treaty of Berlin in exchange for the dis-
tricts of Plava and Gusinje which were then awarded to Turkey
in view of the predominantly Mohammedan religion of their
inhabitants.
Montenegrin covetings of the Lake Scutari area are based on
economic grounds. The eastern shore of this inland body of water
' G. Gravier: L'Albanie et ses limites, Itev. de Paris, Jan. 1, 1913, pp. 200-224.
196 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
contains broad agricultural tracts which can supply the small
state mth food products unobtainable from its rocky surface.
The award of a small strip of the old sanjak and a portion of
the Ipek district, at the end of the Balkan wars of 1912 and
1913, failed to meet Montenegrin requirements. The new dis-
tricts are separated from the country proper by a tangle of well-
nigh impenetrable mountains. At Podgoritza, the commercial
center of Montenegro, it is still possible to buy cereals from
Albania more advantageously than from the Ipek region. Fur-
thermore the acquired territory is relatively densely populated
and hence unfit for settlement or colonization. Under the circum-
stances the economic advantages secured by Montenegro by the
increase of its territory in 1913 were slight.
The area claimed by the highland country comprises the shore
district of Scutari Lake and the Boyana valley. To satisfy
Montenegrin aspirations the Albanian boundary should follow
the Drin valley to the point of confluence of the Black and White
Drin and extend along the Drinassa river. Thence, passing
through the coast ranges, it should attain the Kiri river by way
of a canal connecting this waterway with the Boyana. Beyond,
the line might appropriately be carried to Bredizza and the
Adriatic between San Juan de Medua and the mouth of the
Boyana.
Such a revision of Montenegro's frontier would provide the
soil which the country needs for tilling. The valley of the
Boyana and the drained lake district would soon be taken up by
Montenegrin colonists who, now that the Turkish danger is over,
are eager to descend into the lowland from their mountain fast-
ness. The connection between the coast and inland districts
would likewise be favored by the changed course of the boundary
line.
In southern Albania Greek claims to Epirus are not without
foundation. Hellenic language and customs prevail throughout
the province. The hopes entertained at Athens originally aimed
at the establishment of a northern boundary which would have
included Valona. In order to satisfy Italian demands, however.
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE B^KAN PENINSULA 197
a less comprelieiisive line was advocated, beginning at Gramala
bay and extending to the Serbian frontier in the center of the
western shore of Lake Okrida. It comprises the districts of
Kimara, Argyrocastro, Premeti, Koritza and Moskopolis. Accord-
ing to official Turkish statistics, published in 1908, the region
was peopled by 340,000 Greeks and some 149,000 Mohammedans.
The Greek proposals laid before the London ambassadorial
conference suggested the following delimitation of the line
between Greece and Albania. Starting from Gramala bay on
the Adriatic sea, the frontier was to extend to Tepeleni and
thence to Klisura. From this point the line was to coincide with
the crest of the Dangli mountains and, crossing the basin of the
middle Devoli river, attain Lake Okrida, thus connecting with
the eastern boundary of Albania.
The thwarting of these Greek aspirations was followed by
an insurrection of the Epirote inhabitants of Albania in 1914.
The movement aimed at annexation with Greece. Eebel troops
lost no time in occupying the region of Greek speech between
Kimara and Tepeleni, comprising the coast and the northern
extension of the wide valley of Argyrocastro. On February 25,
1914, the autonomy of Epirus was solemnly proclaimed by the
inhabitants of Kimara assembled in their cathedral. In the fall of
1914 the Hellenic government, taking advantage of the European
war, despatched regular troops into the territory claimed by its
citizens. As a result of this invasion the Albanian area of Greek
speech was brought under the direct authority of the Greek
government.^
The determination of the boundary between the Albanian and
Greek languages presents little difficulty. The upper course of
the Voyussa and the road from Delvino to Ostanitza passing by
Doliano mark the divide approximately. North of this line the
prevailing language is Albanian. To the south it is Greek. On
the Albanian side the village schoolhouse maintained by Greeks
is no longer found. Delvino itself is a town in which the two
' L. Biichner : Die neue griechisch-albanische Grenze in Nordepirua, Pet. Mitt., Vol
61, Feb. 1915, p. 68.
198 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
peoples are equally represented. The language of commerce
however is Greek and as a rule the Albanian townsmen speak
the rival tongue with high fluency, while the knowledge of
Albanian possessed by the Greek inhabitants is restricted to the
few phrases needed in daily contact.
History, legend and myth, as well as language, testify to the
Hellenic character of the Epirote land. These ties are too strong
to allow the Greeks to relinquish complacently any portion of
Epirus to Albania. Greece's dawning consciousness of nationality
was nursed in the mountains of Epirus long before the Christian
era. Every step in the rugged country raises the dust of
Hellenic antiquity. Among the fateful oaks of Dodona the land
is aglow with tradition. At a short distance from Filiates, at
the junction of the Kalamas and the Cremnitza, shepherds feed
their flocks about the thick walls of Passaron. Near Delvino may
be seen the remains of the once prosperous city of Phoenike.
Every mountain and stream in the Epirote districts of Albania
is part of the foundation on which Hellenism was built. The
annals of modern Greece also are replete with the heroism of
Greeks who claim Epirus as their native country. The land
which produced so daring a leader of men as Pyrrhus in ancient
times, later counted Miaoulis, Canaris and Botzaris among its
sons.
The Greek occupation of Janina and the district surrounding
the city raised difficulties of a practical nature. As is generally
the case in conquered countries land was found to be held by the
dominating element, that is by Mohammedans, whether Albanian,
Turkish or Greek. The Christian Greeks forming the majority
of the population constituted the working, peasant class. The
end of Turkish rule in Europe placed Mohammedan landholders
in the unenviable situation of suppliants before a people whom
they had mercilessly maltreated. Many were ruined and their
land taken over by Greeks without compensation. A general
disturbance of the economic life of the region ensued as agricul-
ture had been its most important industry.
Geographically — as well as economically — the nation holding
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 199
Janina is entitled to Santi-Quaranta. This harbor is likewise
the outlet for the products of the district surrounding Argyro-
castro. In fact access to the sea for the entire Grreek-speaking
inland districts of southern Albania is obtained through Preveza
or Santi-Quaranta. The latter harbor alone however is safe for
large vessels.
The importance of Albania in European politics is largely due
to the commanding position of the country's seaports at the
mouth of the Adriatic. Austrians, Italians, Serbians and Monte-
negrins covet them equally. South of the Montenegro frontier
the first of these harbors is San Juan de Medua, situated on the
northeast corner of the Gulf of Drino about 11 miles southwest
of the mouth of the Boyana river.
This port, which is in reality a bay of restricted dimensions, is
considered by the natives as the most favored on the Albania;i
coast. A bank extending to the south of the bay affords shelter
from high seas. The region is the resort of local fishermen and
is especially favored during winter months. In summer the
swampy nature of the environing country converts it into a
malarial district. Small vessels of the coastwise trade find
shelter at the extreme inland extension of the bay. Ocean-going
steamers anchor in the middle of the bay between the mouth of
the Drin and San Juan Point.
San Juan de Medua is the harbor of the Montenegrin town of
Scutari. It is also the proposed sea terminal of a railway to be
built between the Danube and the Adriatic. As such it might in
time become Serbia's economic outlet to the Adriatic. But the
construction of a railroad connecting the valley of the Danube
with the Adriatic presents well-nigh insurmountable difficulties
on account of the mountainous character of the intervening
country. The bay of Kodoni, in the southern part of the Gulf of
Drino, is one of the safe anchorages. A commodious harbor
could be provided here by modern engineering devices. The
southern shore of the bay could be converted into a long wharf
at no great cost. A jetty thrown out on the northern side would
afford protection from the "bora" or northern wind.
200 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Between tlie bay of Rodoni and Durazzo the two roadsteads
of Lales and Pata intervene. Both are resorts of fishermen and
petty freighters seeking refuge from the vehemence of the bora.
The shallowness of the waters in both preclude their utilization
as western terminals for central Balkan traffic. Beyond however,
to the south, the spacious bay of Durazzo offers ample harbor
facilities to Adriatic shipping.
Durazzo has undoubtedly the most commodious harbor of
northern Albania. From Cape Durazzo to Cape Laghi the bay
is about 11 miles long. Shoals and banks protect its northern
entrance. Engineers would find little difficulty in deepening the
bay in conformity with the requirements of modern navigation.
This accomplished, Durazzo might again become the naval station
and port of commerce which gave fame to its name in ancient
times.
Its site is hallowed to history. To the Corcyreans by whom the
first town was founded it was known as Epidamnus, the "far
away." The Eomans changed its name to Dyrrachium. In
■classical times the port was the point of transshipment for mer-
chandise en route from Italy to Macedonia or northern Greece.
At the height of Venetian commercial supremacy, the seaport
fully retained its ancient prosperity. The wharves to which
Venetian galleys were moored are still intact. Although the city
is the modern commercial center of Albania it has lost much of
its ancient activity.
None of these Albanian harbors are comparable in strategic
importance to Valona, which is situated opposite Brindisi and on
that portion of the Albanian coast nearest Italy. The holders
of this seaport will control the strait of Otranto and thereby have
mastery of the Adriatic. From a military standpoint, the bay
facing the town is eminently suited to become a strongly fortified
naval station. It is provided with a number of safe anchorages.
The island of Sasseno facing the entrance affords shelter from
the roughness of the open sea and forms at the same time a
natural outpost. Italian and Austrian statesmen, the former
especially, are fuUy aware of the importance of this Albanian
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 201
3iarbor in the Adriatic question. The aim of each is to plant
their country's flag on the crenelated remnants of the ancient
forts which overlook the bay. Greece also aspires to the pos-
session of the seaport. In her case the claim is made that the
majority of the inhabitants are of Greek descent. An attempt to
obtain mastery of the position was made by Greece in the spring
•of 1913 when she landed in Sasseno. An energetic protest from
the Italian government forced Greece to recall her troops. The
island was occupied by Italian troops in the fall of 1914.
Valona is the outlet of a region whose population consists
mainly of Mohammedan Albanians. Its commercial insignificance
is largely due to the charaoter of its inhabitants. Had it been
peopled by a majority of Greeks, or even Christian Albanians,
its influence might have been felt in the midst of international
rivalries. Whatever destiny is in store for Albania, it seems as
if, in view of the non-Greek character of the Valonian popula-
tion, Italian or Austrian claims would stand greater chance of
being heeded.
Of the 8,000 or 10,000 inhabitants of Valona over one-half are
Albanian Mohammedans who adhere to the use of their ver-
nacular. Greek is spoken extensively by Orthodox Albanians and
Greeks, who together form the next largest religious community.
Among Catholics the cultural influence of Italian prevails. In
fact most of the Albanian Catholics residing in the town have
forsaken their native language for Italian. Through the medium
of these Catholics the only sphere of Italian influence in Albania
deserving mention is found in Valona and the environing district.
This western influence is hardly felt, however, beyond a distance
of about 35 miles inland from the harbor or by more than 20,000
souls. Albanian anarchy holds sway to the north. Southward
Greek influence is strongly exerted through the agency of the
Orthodox church.
Elsewhere in the Balkan peninsula linguistic groupings now
conform largely to the political divisions which ended the wars of
1912-1913. The future will undoubtedly afford an increasingly sat-
isfactory perspective of the results which followed this attempt to
202 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
eliminate totally the Turk from this portion of the European
continent. Kacial siftings followed close on territorial readjust-
ments. Turks from all parts of the former Turkish provinces
transferred their lands to Christian residents and emigrated to
Asia Minor. Special arrangements for this exodus were pro-
vided by the Turkish government. Greeks who were settled in
the newly acquired Bulgarian and Serbian domain similarly
sought new homes within the boundaries of the Hellenic kingdom.
A heavy flow of Bulgarian emigrants was also directed to
Bulgaria from Bulgarian-speaking territory allotted to Serbia.*
But pressing need of further boundary revision on the basis
of language is felt in the peninsula. Eesumption of hostilities
in this part of Europe in 1915 was due principally to the moot
ease of the nationality of the Slavs of Macedonia. Serbs and
Bulgars both claim them as their own. In reality the Macedonians
are a transition people between the two. They occupy a distinc-
tive area formed by the twin valleys of the Vardar and Struma
and surrounded by a mountainous bulwark assuming crescentic
shape as it spreads along the Balkan ranges and the mountains
of Albania and the Pindus. For centuries this Macedonian plain
has constituted the cockpit of a struggle waged for linguistic
supremacy on the part of Bulgarians and Serbs. The land had
formed part of the domain of each of the two countries in the
heyday of their national life. To this fact in part the present
duality of claim must be ascribed.
The entire northwestern Macedonian highland was under
Serbian rule until the fall of 1915. East and south of the moun-
tains Bulgarian speech predominates in districts peopled exclu-
sively by Macedonians. The Greek element is practically entirely
absent here; Serbians begin to appear in small numbers; south
of Monastir and Okrida offshoots of the Pindus Eumanians are
found; but the Macedonian element is present everywhere in
overwhelming majority.
■■ Such migrations generally follow boundary revisions. The crossing of Alsatians
into French territory since 1870 has been already mentioned. A large number of
Danes abandoned their home in Schleswig-Holstein in 1865, and wandered into Denmark.
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 203
Fig. 53 — Sketch map of the western Balkans. The dotted area represents the
northern area of Greek language. Black dots show Rumanian settlements of the
Pindus moimtains and adjoining regions.
Physically Macedonia is the region of the basins of the
Vardar and Struma. Under Turkish rule it was divided into the
vilayets of Monastir, Uskub and Salonica. The area is isolated
from the rest of the peninsula by a practically continuous line
204 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of mountains, which, starting with the Pindus, Grammos and
Albanian ranges on the west, extend through the Shar, Suhagora,
Osogov and Eilo uplifts on the north and connect on the east
with the Rhodope massif. Macedonia is thus well defined on the
surface. Within these natural boundaries, it may be divided into
an elevated region extending over its northwestern portion and
a lowland spreading thence to -<3Egean waters. The Bistritza
valley forms a convenient feature to mark the beginning of the
modern Hellenic area.
In a restricted sense physical Macedonia may be defined as
the southerly extension of the Serbian mountain belt whose
drainage leads to the ^'gean. Thus it consists first of a moun-
tain belt extending between the upper valleys of the Black Drin
and Struma. To this zone must also be added a hill country
which forms its continuation to the ^gean Sea. The Vardar
valley is entirely within this area and divides it into equal east
and west sections. The northern boundary of the area is found
at the central watershed north of Uskub. Four important basins
lie within these boundaries. The Tetovo basin, west of Uskub,
lies close to the watershed. Southward the Monastir and
Strumitza basins occupy approximately homologous positions
with respect to the Vardar cut. The twin basin of Serres and
Drama extends over the southeastern portion of the country.
These basins have been the only important centers of Macedonian
populations.
The Macedonian highland is peopled by shepherds and wood-
cutters. The lowlanders are husbandmen. All are generally
bilingual, speaking either Greek and Bulgarian or Bulgarian and
Serbian. A knowledge of Turkish usually prevails among all
classes. Occupation generally affords a reliable national clue.
As a rule the Macedonians, and by this term we shall hereafter
denote the Bulgarian-speaking element of Macedonia, are tillers
of the soil. The Greeks are traders and control a large share of
the commerce of the entire region. Land is held by the
Macedonians or the former ruling Turkish gentry. It is worked
however by the Macedonians.
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 205
The inhabitants of Macedonia may be divided into four
groups according to their vernaculars. The number of indi-
viduals in each group is estimated as follows : '
Bulgarians 1,172,136 or 81.5<^ of the total Christian population.
Greeks 190,047 " 13.22 " " " " "
Eumanians 63,895 " 4.44 " " " " "
Albanians ° 12,006 " 0.84 " " " "
The Bulgarians form a compact mass containing slight admix-
ture of alien elements in northern and central Macedonia. Many
of the occasional Greek communities encountered within this area
are former Slav or Albanian centers having passed under the
sphere of the Greek religious propaganda which has been actively
carried on as a means of increasing the Hellenic domain. The
instrument of Hellenization was the Patriarchate at Constan-
tiaople. The Patriarchs, bearing the title of (Ecumenical, con-
sidered themselves as apostles of the Greater Greece idea. After
the fall of Byzantium, and notably after the closing of the
Bulgarian Patriarchate of Okrida, the (Ecumenical Patriarchate
of Constantinople was the only official church established in
Turkey for Christians. Its influence, directed through schools
and churches, aimed above all to Hellenize Christians. The
clergy was directed to convert to Orthodoxy the greatest
possible number of Christians of alien denomination and, at the
same time, attempt to enforce the use of Greek speech among
non-Mohammedans.
The Greeks of Macedonia are as mixed a people as can be
found on the surface of the earth. Inhabitants of cities are
strongly mixed with Albanian and Slav populations. Strains of
Tatar blood can even be detected among them. The Mediterranean
type becomes more pronounced as Thessaly is approached. In
unfrequented villages, however, the tourist will not uncommonly
find living impersonations of the sculptor's classical conception
of the human form. This Greek element predominates in the
•D. M. Brancoflf: La Macfidoine et sa population chr6tienne, Paris, 1905.
• The number of Serbians scattered in the highland region of northern Macedonia
has been omitted, probably owing to its relative inferiority.
206 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
valley of the Bistritza, which, regionally, should be considered as
the northeastern boundary of the area of the Greek speech.
The Slavs of Macedonia are, in many respects, distinct in
character from the other Slavs of the Balkan peninsula. National
feeling among them is less strongly developed than with the
rest of the southern Slavs. They are industrious and frugal-
even grasping. Yet there are marked exceptions which seem to
prove that these qualities are not natural to them but have been
acquired under the stress of circumstances. Macedonia is a land
of poverty. It may rank with southern Greece as the poorest
land in the Balkan peninsula. Of little fertility, extensively
deforested and without particularly good pasture land, the
country cannot support its relatively numerous population, and
therefore an important occupation with the Macedonians is the
taking of service in menial capacity in foreign countries —
"Petchalba," as it is called.
The language of the Macedonians is intermediate between
Serbian and Bulgarian. Its affinity with the latter, however, is
sufficiently pronounced to have led generally to merging.
Travelers in the land of the Macedonian Slavs soon learn that
a knowledge of Bulgarian will obviate difficulties due to ignorance
of the country's vernaculars. Serbian, however, is not as readily
intelligible to the natives. This relation has favored the Bul-
garian side whenever controversy arose and compilers of linguistic
or ethnographic maps have generally abstained from differ-
entiating the Macedonian from the Bulgarian area.'^ The impos-
sibility for Bulgarians to regard the terms of the treaty of
Bucarest as final is, therefore, obvious. Extension of the
Eumanian boundary to the Turtukai-Black Sea line was also an
encroachment on soil where Bulgarian was the predominant
language.'
'D. M. Brancoif: La Mac^doine et sa population chrgtienne, Paris, 1905. The
Serbian vie^vpoint ia resumed by J. Cvijic in " Ethnographie de la Macfdoine," Ann. de
GSogr., Vol. 15, 1906, pp. 115-132 and 249-266.
' R. A. TsanoflF in the Journ. of Race Develop. (.Jan. 1915, p. 251) estimates that
1,198,000 Bulgarians have passed under foreign rule as a result of the treaty of
Buearest. Of these 286,000 have become subjects of Rumania, 315,000 of Greece and
597,000 of Serbia.
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 207
The area of Bulgarian speecli awarded to Greece by the
treaty of Bucarest in 1913 attains the Albanian boundary near
Lakes Prespa and Kastoria. The upper valley of the Bistritza
river crosses a region peopled by Macedonians. The former
Turkish caza of Kastoria contained a majority of Bulgarian-
speaking inhabitants. The domain of Greek speech begins south
of Lapsista and extends eastward halfway between Kailar and
Kochana. Greek predominance is maintained around Karaferia.
The environs of Salonica contain a slight excess of Greek inhabi-
tants over Bulgarians, but the Greek element is not as closely
attached to the land as the Bulgarian. The line of lakes
on the north of the Chalcydic peninsula forms the boundary
between Greeks and Bulgarians, the latter element extend-
ing north of these inland waters to the present Bulgarian
frontier.
The loss of Macedonia was bitterly resented by Bulgarians,
not only on account of the racial ties which bind them to
Macedonians, but also because their country's economic develop-
ment is hampered by the want of the harbors which constitute
the natural sea outlets for the rearlands under Bulgarian rule.
The industrial and commercial development of southwestern
Bulgaria is handicapped at present by the necessity of shipping
the products of the region over a devious stretch of railroad
through Sofia-Philippopoli-Dedeagatch. The alternative via
Serbia or Greece is equally costly. The population of a con-
siderable portion of the country is, therefore, unable to compete
with rival producers of the two neighboring countries.
In the first half of 1913 negotiations between the Greek and
Bulgarian governments were in progress for the division of lands
conquered from the Turks. At that time the Greek government
was willing to recognize Bulgarian sovereignty over the cazas of
Kavalla, Drama, Pravista, Serres, Demir-Hissar and Kulmsh.
This was done on Mr. Venizelos' understanding that these
districts were sparsely inhabited by Greeks,' and that Kavalla
"A. Schopoff: The Balkan States and the Federal Principle, Asiat. Rev., July 1,
1915, p. 21.
208 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
was the natural seaport of the districts of Strumnitza, Melnik,
Jumaya, Nevrokop and Eazlog.
Many of the districts thus offered to Bulgaria were peopled
mainly by Turks. According to Turkish statistics the caza of
Kara-Shaban does not contain a single Christian village. Its
population consists almost entirely of Turks numbering about
15,000. The caza of Kavalla, having a population of 30,000, is
likewise largely Turkish. The Greek element is reckoned at
about 4,000, while some 3,500 Pomaks or Bulgarian Moham-
medans are scattered in many villages.
Of the 50,000 inhabitants of the caza of Drama fully one-half
were Turks, the number of Greeks hardly attained 4,000, while
the Bulgarian element consisted of 20,000 inhabitants divided
into equal numbers of Exarchists and Pomaks. In the caza of
Serres, the Bulgarians number approximately 40,000, while the
Greek population comprises 27,000." The caza of Demir-Hissar
contains 33,000 Bulgarians out of a population of 50,250. The
Greeks number about 250. In Kukush there are no Greeks at
all. The population of this caza consists mainly of 20,000
Turks out of a total of 23,000 inhabitants. It should be
remembered that the Turks emigrated en masse from this
district after the treaty of Bucarest and that, barring for-
cible expulsion by the Greeks, the population of all this
section of southeastern Macedonia is now overwhelmingly Bul-
garian. *
Prior to Philip's time, Macedonia was a little-known moun-
tainous province constantly overrun by Thracians and Illyrians.
Soon after the overthrow of the Macedonian Empire by the
Eomans in 168 b.c. the region took its place among Roman
provinces and eventually formed part of the Byzantine Empire.
Eapacious Goths under Alaric brought havoc to the land after
its fortunes were bound to that of the dominant eastern state.
The Slavs made their appearance during the reign of Justinian.
Their colonies had attained importance while Heraclius was on
the throne. In the tenth century, Macedonia became part of the
'"Brancoff: op. cit., p. 23.
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 209
great Bulgarian kingdom, but gravitated later towards Byzan-
tium, though not without having been the scene of disastrous
struggles between Byzantine hosts and their barbarian foes.
Turks and Tatars first overran the country in this period and
even founded colonies. The two invasions from the east, of the
Slavs and of the Turks, must have wrought profound changes
in the Macedonian populations. A short period of Serbian rule
was undergone in the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth,
Macedonia became an integral portion of the Ottoman dominions
and preserved this political status until its rescue during the
Balkan wars of 1912-1913.
Ethnically Macedonians and Bulgarians consist of mixed
European and Asiatic elements. The oldest layer in the popula-
tion is Thracian. This local stock peopled the land at the time
of the Koman conquest and was strongly Eomanized during the
subsequent centuries. Slavs overran the country in the sixth
century. The Bulgarians made their appearance in the seventh.
Turks, or rather Mongol and Tatar hordes, began their invasions
in the eighth. These Asiatics were nomads. They made
excellent soldiers but poor settlers. Their settlements, which
were made at strategic points, can be recognized today by their
commanding sites.
It is hard to determine how much of the Slav or of the Tatar
exists in the average Bulgarian of our day. The history of the
land during the second half of the first Christian millennium is a
record of constant invasions from the east. The invaders appear
at first to have been Slavs from the southern steppes of western
Eussia. As time goes on, however, Bulgaria is seen to absorb
wanderers proceeding from more and more distant districts in
the southern belts of the steppeland which forms the continuation
of Europe into Asia. Slavic culture and speech preserved by the
Bulgarians seem but the veil that hides their strong Asiatic
affinity.
The fundamental difference between the temper of the Serbian
and the Bulgarian is apparent to travelers in Balkan lands. The
former are true Slavs. They are lighthearted and always ready
210 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
to make merry. Their mountains re-echo with folk songs of the
genuine Slavic type. The Bulgarian on the other hand is inclined
to silence. Both peoples are equally industrious, but in the
Serbian the mobile and restless spirit of the west is discernible,
while the Bulgarian is as slow and ponderous a thinker as ever
was bred on the vast and open stretches of Eurasia's central
lowlands.
Proof of the Altaic origin of some of the Bulgarians is
derived from philology. To be sure, the Bulgarian and Turkish
languages, as now spoken, prevent mutual understanding, even
though a number of Turkish words have crept into Bulgarian in
the course of the centuries of Turkish rule. These are mostly
modern words, however, which did not exist at the time of the
Asiatic migrations. On the other hand, a deeper etymological
bond is found in the words for both wild and domestic animals,
which are very similar in the two languages. In the same way
the old stock of words relating to agricultural or pastoral pur-
suits are very closely akin in Turkish and Hungarian. An
interesting feature of the peopling of Bulgaria is the modern
tendency of the Bulgarian to abandon his ancient home in the
Balkan mountains and seek the fertile lowlands of the country's
main valleys. A steady emigration from mountain to plain has
been going on since the Turks withdrew their garrisons from
Bulgaria. This movement reflects a sense of security which
followed the expulsion of the Turks. It is not yet ended. The
fertile basins of southeastern Bulgaria are still sparsely popu-
lated. The reason is clear. They were peopled largely by Turks
who preferred to retire on Turkish soil after the Balkan wars
of 1912-1913. The Bulgarians have not yet had time to occupy
the territory abandoned by the Turks.
After the Turkish conquest Turkish historians, particularly
Evlia Tchelebi and Sa'aeddin, constantly refer to the Macedonians
as Bulgarians. This belief was held by the Turks until the end
of their rule of the province. The first Bulgarian bishop
authorized by the Turkish government was appointed for the
diocese of TJskub and southern districts. This appointment fol-
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 211
lowed census-taking in the district which, indicated Bulgarian
predominance.
In southwestern Macedonia the inhabitants of the districts of
Kastoria, Fiorina and Kailar are generally Bulgarians. Even
in the Moha mm edan vUlages, as, for example, Grevena and
Nedilia, nothing but Bulgarian is heard. The fundamental
Bulgarian character of the entire region is furthermore estab-
lished by place names which are Bulgarian in spite of secular
infiltrations of Greeks, Albanians and Turks.
This portion of Macedonia along with the Vodena, Yenije-
^^ardar and Salonica districts which were lately allotted to
Greece, constitute an interesting linguistic zone. Here alone, of
all Bulgarian-speaking regions, have been preserved forms
peculiar to the old Bulgarian language. The speech of the
inhabitants of Kastoria in particular reveals antiquated styles
which are found only in the first manuscripts prepared for the
use of Christian Slavs.
At the ambassadorial conference of Constantinople in 1876
the cazas of Kastoria and Fiorina were included within the
boundaries of the proposed autonomous province which was to
have Sofia as its capital. The treaty of San Stefano likewise
comprised the districts under the newly created Bulgaria. These
considerations suffice in themselves to demonstrate the Bulgarian
nationality of the inhabitants of the present northern confines of
Greece.
The Serbian claim on portions of Macedonia acquired after
the Balkan war of 1913 rests largely on a relatively short term
of military occupation at the height of the Serbian might in the
fourteenth century. This is made the basis of an historical plea.
The crowning of Dushan, their most renowned ruler, in the city
of Uskub however did not change the national character of the
inhabitants of the city or the districts surrounding it. Further-
more, Serbian rule in Macedonia was preceded by Bulgarian
sovereignty and was followed by Byzantine supremacy over the
land. Greeks and Bulgarians may therefore buttress their
claims on equally valid historical contentions. Samuel, one of
212 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the Bulgarian Czars, had extended his domain as far -vyest as
the Adriatic. His success in adding the seaport of Durazzo to
his land, however, failed to change the Serbian nationality of
the western districts he managed to conquer.
Only in recent years have Serbian claims on Macedonia been
set forth by Serbian scholars. Historians like Raitch, Solaritch
and Vouk Karadjitch formerly concurred in setting southern
Serbian frontiers at the Shar mountains. In 1860 Serbian
scientific societies had joined in the publication of Macedonian
songs collected by Verkovitch under the title of "Bulgarian
Songs." Serbian writers of the period around 1870 describe
inland inhabitants of Thrace, Rumelia and Macedonia as Bul-
garians, while they recognized the coast dwellers as Greeks."
A transition dialect between Bulgarian and Serbian is spoken
by the inhabitants of the Krajste and Vlasina valleys in eastern
Serbia. The Krajste, an ill-known region, skirts the Serbo-
Bulgarian boundary and spreads eastward to the basins of Tren
and Kustendil. The Vlasina upper valley is known to Serbians
as containing the most important peat bog in their country. The
two districts are characterized by seasonal migrations of their
inhabitants which acquire decided intensity in the Vlasina
valley."
In its westernmost area the delimitation of a Bulgarian
linguistic boundary is greatly hampered by the relatively large
Serbian-speaking element on the north and a corresponding mass
of Greeks on the south. Reliable statistics are still unavailable.
Figures supplied by rival nationalist propaganda institutions
are for obvious reasons open to suspicion. The region where
the determination of this linguistic boundary is most diiBcult is
found in the neighborhood of Pirot and Vrania. Here the lan-
guage of the Slavic natives departs equally from the Bulgarian
and Serbian. This region, however, lies north of Macedonia
proper. At the same time there appears to be little room to
" L'Scho de la Bulgarie. Dec. 20, 1914.
•' R. T. NikoliiS: Krajste i Vlasina, Nasetia Srpskikh zrmalia, Vol. 8, 1912,
pp. 1-380.
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 213
doubt that the area of Bulgarian speech attains the zone of the
eastern Albanian dialects and that it attains the Gulf of Salonica.
But the seafaring population of the .^'gean coast is largely
Glreek.
Salonica itself is by no means a Bulgarian city, but an
excellent type of the polylingual cities of the Near East. Out of
a population of 160,000 inhabitants, it contains 20,000 Greeks and
an equal number of Europeans and Turks respectively. Its
Bulgarian population is negligible. The most numerous element
is made up of Jews who, it is estimated, constitute about one-
half of the population. Next to Constantinople, Salonica is the
best harbor in the Balkans. It is coveted by the Bulgarians on
the plea that the population of the country environing Salonica
is mostly Bulgar.
The city occupies a dominating position on the ^'gean coast
halfway between Piraeus and Smyrna and has always been a
meeting-point of Europe and Asia. In a sense it is the eastern
terminal of continental lines with which it is connected by the
railroad which passes through Nish and Uskub. In this light
the city may be likened to one of the piles of a gigantic bridge
thrown across the -^'gean to connect Europe and Asia. It is
the natural outlet of the greatest part of Macedonia. Inland
towns all the way from Ipek, Prizrend and Mitrovitza to
Monastir, Ishtip and Serres obtain the goods which they need
through Salonica. The products of the fertile valleys of the
Vardar and the Bistritza are almost exclusively directed toward
this harbor. The exchange of commodities between Salonica and
its rearlands reaches a yearly value of about $100,000,000.
Whatever be the prevailing language spoken in this city, its
greatness depends entirely on the degree of freedom with which
its inhabitants can maintain trade with the districts extending
north and northwest. To maintain its size, or grow, the city
must continue to be the receiving point of manufactured goods
shipped into Macedonia as well as parts of Serbia and Albania.
It must also remain the shipping point for the natural products
from those same districts. To separate Macedonia from Salonica,
214 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
its natural liarbor, is to create an unnatural condition. The city
draws its life from the resources of Macedonia. Its prosperity
is therefore directly related to the political fate of that country.
Bulgaria was independent during three different periods of
its history. The first kingdom was founded in 679 when
Bulgarian bands led by Asparush crossed the Danube and con-
quered the Slavs who had previously occupied Bulgaria. Con-
quest carried his successors to the very gates of Constantinople.
At the end of the ninth century under the reign of Simon, the
second Christian ruler of the country, the kingdom comprised aU
of Hungary, Eumania, Macedonia, Thessaly, Epirus and Serbia
in addition to its present territory. Preslav was its capital.
Bulgaria had then an area of 233,300 sq. m.
The Byzantines conquered Bulgaria in 1018 and maintained
their supremacy until 1186. The second kingdom was reestab-
lished in that year with Assen I as its sovereign. In the reign
of Assen 11 (1218-1241), Bulgarian territory reached the
Adriatic, ^gean and Black seas and the Danube formed its
northern frontier. Tirnovo was the capital of the second
kingdom. Bulgaria was at that time one of the great European
powers. Its area was then 113,100 sq. m. The third kingdom
dates from the year 1877.
Several attempts have been made in the past to create a
Bulgaria which would extend as far as the country's language
was spoken. Towards the end of 1876 an international confer-
ence was held in Constantinople to put an end to the intolerable
condition of the Christians inhabiting this portion of the Balkan
peninsula. The delegates decided to form two new Turkish
provinces, the boundaries of which would coincide with the ethno-
graphic limit of the Bulgarian people. Sofia and Tirnovo were
selected as the chief towns of the new provinces. The Sultan's
government succeeded in blocking the execution of this project.
War with Russia followed and Eussian victories forced Turkey to
sign the memorable treaty of San Stefano on February 19,
1878.
The boundary then decided upon was practically identical with
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 215
that provided by the ambassadorial conference of Constantinople.
Bulgaria however obtained in addition a band of territory in
Thrace and access to the ^gean through the seaport of Kavalla
and the mouth of the Vardar. In exchange, the principality lost
the Dobrudja to Eumania and a portion of the sanjak of Nish
with the towns of Nish and Leskovatz to Serbia. Eussia at San
Stefano had, therefore, merely enforced execution of the agree-
ment reached jointly by the representatives of European powers.
The treaty she imposed on the Porte was from the linguistic
standpoint an improvement on the ambassadorial plan elaborated
at Constantinople.
Unfortunately for Bulgaria, the unity of the nation failed to
receive the sanction of Europe at the treaty of Berlin in spite
of the sound scientific basis on which it was founded. Political
and strategical considerations, on the plea of which many inter-
national blunders have been committed, prevailed. After this act
of injustice Bulgarians organized themselves to reclaim the land
of which they had been despoiled. Thirty-five years were spent
in preparation. On February 19, 1913, Bulgar guns and bayonets,
backed by Bulgar determination, had almost reestablished the
national unity for which they had striven. This new effort was
not to be crowned with success. Only in the winter of 1914-1915
were the Bulgarians able to occupy with their arms the terri-
tories of Bulgarian speech which had been allotted to Serbia by
the treaty of Bucarest. The permanency of this occupation is,
needless to state, subject to international approval.
The extreme southeastern angle of the Balkan peninsula, east
of the Maritza river, is probably the most polyglot region in
Europe. The valley of the Maritza is mainly Bulgarian.
Numerous colonies of Greeks settled along the coast between the
Dardanelles and the Black Sea entrance of the Bosporus ply their
trade as fishermen or sailors. The petty coastwise traffic is
almost entirely in their hands. The Bulgarians are mainly
farmers. Their properties are scattered east to the very walls
of the world-metropolis which brings fame to the region. Within
Constantinople itself truck gardens are generally owned and
216 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
exploited by Bulgarians. Bulgarian and Greek languages are
therefore common in this peninsula extremity of Europe. The
latter however is in constant use by most of the inhabitants,
whereas Bulgarian is restricted to the Slavic element.
The Turkish masters of the land were never able to impose
their language on the Christian population. Many of the Greek
and Bulgarian inhabitants of the region cannot speak a word of
Turkish. The fact is particularly observable among Greeks. The
language of the conqueror hovers over the land as the medium
of administration. Its function ceases then, as far as the
Christian element of the region is concerned. The Turkish popu-
lation in this bit of the Balkan peninsula is numerous, owing to
the attraction exerted by the capital. Eeliable census figures are
unavailable. Thanks to the presence of a strong garrison and a
host of civil-service officials the Turkish population of Constan-
tinople, added to the Turks remaining in the strip of European
Turkey still owned by the Sultan after the treaty of Bucarest
of 1913, probably musters as many individuals as those to whom
Greek is vernacular. An important Armenian colony is centered
at Constantinople and radiates in settlements without the capital.
These Christians also have held fast to their native speech,
although most of them can claim proficiency in Turkish. This
familiarity with the language of their conquerors betrays their
Asiatic origin, in contrast with the ignorance of Turkish found
among the Greeks, who never forget their European affinities.
In Europe the Turk, child of the ungrateful Asiatic steppe-
land, has always been the heartily despised intruder. He has
shown himself incompetent to follow up the task of conquest by
assimilating the peoples he subdued. Perhaps his lack of
national ideals lies at the root of his failure. The language he
imposed on his Christian subjects never replaced their vernacular.
It was spoken only by the males of the subdued populations.
Only in rare instances did it penetrate within their households.
Hence, Turks never felt at home in Europe. They knew that
their nomad's tent was pitched only for a while on the continent
in which they sojourned as conquerors and as strangers. They
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 217
were emigrants who liad lost all memory of their land of origin
and who nevertheless could not adapt themselves to the land
which their bravery had won. The state they founded had a weak
head and no heart whatever. Under these conditions the expul-
sion of Turks from Europe could always be foreseen in spite of
the weary years it took to accomplish it.
Every boundary revision that marks the successive shrinking
of Turkish territory in Europe has been attended by wholesale
emigration of Mohammedans from lands reclaimed by Christians.
Immediately after the Balkan wars of 1913 about 50,000 Turks
voluntarily departed for Asia Minor from territory allotted to
Oreece. An equal number left sections of Macedonia taken over
by Serbia, while about 25,000 abandoned land annexed by
Bulgaria.
The historical fact is that Turks have never consented to live
in a land governed by Christians. In 1882 Thessaly was annexed
to Greece by a decision of European powers. No armed conflict
between Greece and Turkey took place on that occasion and
racial hatred had not been increased by the horrors of war. The
Greek government at that time offered special inducements to the
Turkish inhabitants of the ceded territory to remain on their
land and continue their agricultural pursuits. The Turks, how-
ever, preferred to emigrate to the Sultan's domain.
When Crete was awarded to Greece over 50,000 of the 80,000
Turkish inhabitants of the island abandoned their homes and
decided to settle in Asiatic Turkey. This exodus took place in
spite of the perfect security of life and property that had pre-
vailed in the island since its administration was taken over by
a committee of Europeans in 1877. This tendency of Turks to
forsake Christian countries is observable even in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, where the Austrian government has shown decided
favor toward Mohammedan inhabitants, considering them more
loyal than other elements of its southeastern population.
The Turk's last stand in Europe marks the final stage of
his colossal struggle to retain mastery over the Dardanelles and
Bosporus to which the highways of Europe and Asia lead. The
218 mONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Bosporus is the junction of two important world routes. One of
these connects the peoples of central Europe with the crowded
settlements of British India. The other is the line of communi-
cation between the commercial ports of the Mediterranean and
the caravan terminals on the Black Sea coast. Each of these
highways has constituted a channel through which the trade
between eastern and western lands has been directed from the
very beginnings of commerce. The narrowness of this Eurasian
waterway permitted continuous travel between two continents,
while the straits allowed uninterrupted maritime travel from
Black Sea harbors to distant seaports of the western world.
Modern railway communications have benefited by the former
circumstance. The sea commerce of medieval days thrived on
the latter.
The entire European coast of the elongated waterways which
connect the -iEgean and Black seas is inhabited by peoples
speaking languages each of which symbolizes conflicting aims and
aspirations without being strong enough to silence its rivals.
From the political standpoint the linguistic factor appears to be
of slight value in this case. Economic needs, to the exclusion
of other considerations, will probably determine the destiny of
this region.
The relation of a region to the world depends in general upon
its economic value. The importance of this southeasterly strip
of the Balkan peninsula is therefore affected by its central
location with reference to the continents of Europe, Asia and
Africa. Between Paris and Bagdad, or the Cape of Good Hope,
the overland route is continuous save for a short mile of water
at the Bosporus and an equally insignificant crossing at the
Isthmus of Suez, in the case of African travel. Herein lies the
economic relation of this portion of the Balkan peninsula to the
rest of the world. But the European coastland of the inter-
continental strait separating Europe from Asia does not consti-
tute a complete region. The Asiatic coast of the waterways must
be taken with the European and a single district formed out of
the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora and the Bosporus with
LANGUAGE PROBLEMS OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA 219
their coasts and shores. This region is the threshold of Asia
and conversely the entrance to Europe from the east.
A Balkan zone of depression extending west and south of the
Balkan uplift affords natural access between the valley of the
Danube proceeding from the heart of Europe and the Dardanelles-
Bosporus passage. This convenient gap is provided by the wide
valley of the Morava and the narrower Nishava course which
lead to the Sofia basin, whence penetration into the Thracian
plains is obtained by the Maritza valley. The corresponding
function for the Asiatic shore is performed by the valley of the
Sakaria and in a less degree by the Pursak river depression —
both trending westward from the high plateau of western Asia.
The main roads from the Bosporus and the Dardanelles to
the Sakaria river valley skirt the shores of the straits of the
Marmora, as they follow a coastal lowland which fringes the Dar-
danian and Bithynian heights. At Panderma however the old
highway strikes inland slightly south of east to Brusa in
order to avoid the elevated plateau intervening between the
Marmora and Lake AbuUonia. Thence, still following a line of
least elevation, it winds towards the small harbor of Ghemlik
(the Cius of Graeco-Eoman times) until beyond Isnik (ancient
Nicaea of ecclesiastical fame) it debouches into the waters of the
Sakaria.
These natural features connect the heart of Europe with the
high plateaus of western and central Asia as well as with the
fertile Mesopotamian lowland and the Indian peninsulas. The
silk sent to Europe from eastern Asia in medieval days followed
this road. The route has declined since the construction of the
Suez waterway. Eailway lines planned to connect Channel ports
with the Gulf of Persia will restore the commercial value of the
region. The value of the Bosporus as an avenue of trade
remains unimpaired in modern days. It is the only maritime
outlet for the export of the cereals and farm products of southern
Eussia and the oil of the Caucasus.
Hence the commercial importance of Constantinople. The
city is a huge caravanserai— the meeting place of traders from
220 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the world's remotest corners. Control of its commanding posi-
tion is coveted by every nation whose citizens depend on industry
and trade for their welfare. The commerce of three continents
lies within its grasp. The political status of the extreme south-
eastern corner of the Balkan peninsula, together with that of the
extreme northwestern corner of Asia Minor, therefore affects
the interests of the entire community of European nations.
We have in this a factor which may exert greater weight than
language in the eventual formation of an independent political
unit comprising the elongated zone of coastland inclosing the
Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora and the Bosporus. A con-
venient boundary for this territory in the Balkans might start
at the Gulf of Saros and, coinciding thence with the heights
overlooking Eodosto, might reach the course of the Chorlu.
From here to the Black Sea coast the administrative boundary
of the vilayet of Constantinople might be converted into an inter-
national frontier. This delimitation would leave the valley of
the Maritza in Bulgarian hands. This award is justifiable not
because the beauty of the river banks is proclaimed in the Bul-
garian national hymn, but rather on the grounds of Bulgarian
linguistic preponderance in this valley. Substantial coincidence
between Bulgarian political and linguistic boundaries on the
southeast would then have been obtained.^^
^° On the Asiatic side the valley of the Sakaria and a long fault revealed by the
line of lakes east of the Marmora provide ready-made frontiers which could be con-
veniently extended to the Gulf of Adramyt on the Mgean. This line constituted the
Asiatic boundary of the Latin Empire of Constantinople in the period intervening
between the years 1204 and 1261.
CHAPTER XI
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY
TtTKKEX, by virtue of position, lias always stood closely related
to every section of the European mainland. The country's fate
has affected the destiny of every European nation. The modern
importance of Turkish affairs in European international prob-
lems is a measure of the extensive influence of the Near East
over Europe. A study of European nationalities cannot there-
fore be complete without reference to the empire of Turkish
Sultans.
A strong contrast constantly engages attention in the history
of Ottoman lands. Of old, the world's highest civilizations, its
purest religions, arose within their confines. In modern days
decadence on the heels of a steady recessional marks their lot.
The explanation usually advanced is that Mohammedanism has
impeded Turkish progress. But this religion was no obstacle
to cultural growth in the countries surrounding Turkey. In
Egypt, as in Arabia, Persia and northern India, the thought of
the natives grew to splendid maturity. The intellectual life of
these Mohammedan countries is altogether beyond the grasp
of the Turkish mind.
The foundation of Turkey's weakness as a nation and the
failure of the cause of civilization within its boundaries lie in
the country's situation. The land staggers under the load of mis-
fortune which its central position in the eastern hemisphere has
heaped upon it. Its native populations have never been able to
develop freely. The country is an open road alongside or at the
ends of which nationalities have blossomed. It has been the prey
of invaders by which it has been overrun. The Turks find them-
selves on this land today because they are descendants of
wanderers. They have occupied the road because they ignored
221
222 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the ways of stepping off its path. Having come in numbers
sufficiently strong, they managed to subdue the original inhabi-
tants, who in their groping for the higher life had given the
world a number of great conceptions in learning, art and religion.
But hardly had the easterners occupied the road before the
process of clearing it began.
Turkey has been a highway of commerce and civilization
between Europe on the one hand and Asia and Africa on the
other. The history of this country and of its inhabitants cannot
be understood unless one is thoroughly impressed by this funda-
mental fact. On the east the Persian Gulf followed by the
Mesopotamian valley, its natural prolongation, formed a con-
venient channel for the northwesterly spread of human inter-
course. To the west, land travel between Europe and Africa
drained into the Syrian furrow. Both of these natural grooves
led to the passes which carried the traveler into Asia Minor.
The peninsula therefore was both an important center
of human dispersal and a meeting place for men of all
hations.
The through roads converging into Turkish territory are
probably the oldest commercial routes of the world. At any rate
they connected the sites on which the most ancient civilizations
rose. The remotest past to which the history of humanity carries
us centers around the large river valleys of the tropical and
subtropical zone in the eastern hemisphere. The banks of the
Nile, of the Euphrates, of the Indian rivers, or of the broad
watercourses in Chinese lowlands were nurseries of human
culture. Abundance of water, together with a profuse flora and
fauna, gave early man ease of life. Hunters, fishermen and
shepherds were naturally converted into farmers. A short wait
and the seeds they planted would grow to maturity without
exacting other attention than the preliminary act of sowing. The
life men led afforded time for thought. Curiosity was awakened
regarding lands beyond. Ample provision of natural products
furnished them with stocks available for barter. These condi-
tions favored the development of commerce and stimulated the
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 223
creation of trade routes, which were coveted by many as they
became more and more trodden.
Between Europe and Asia the great movements of peoples
have followed two parallel directions north or south of the central
belt of high Eurasian mountains extending from east to west.
Men have traveled back and forth in these two lines from the
earliest known period. But exchange of ideas has been prac-
tically confined to the southern avenue. In the cold of the
Siberian or northern European lowlands men had little oppor-
tunity to acquire refinement. They were active and energetic,
while the followers of the southern pathways were thinkers.
From the dawn of history to our day only two departures of
importance have taken place from this east-west traffic. Both
were modern events. One occurred in the middle of the fifteenth
century as soon as the Turks acquired mastery of western Asia
and the Balkan peninsula. The Christian sailor-trader of that
time was then obliged to circumnavigate Africa in order to reach
eastern seaports. The other change took place when the Suez
Canal was completed. This waterway diverted to its channel
much of the overland Asiatic traffic routed between the Black Sea
and the Persian Gulf or the Indian Ocean. But even these two
diversions failed to eliminate entirely the picturesque caravans
which plied over Turkish roads. Thus it may be assumed that
these routes have been used uniaterruptedly for about 10,000
years at least, that is to say, before the time in which their
known history begins.
■ The southeastern portal of these celebrated highways is
situated at the head of the Persian Gulf. The broad Tigris and
Euphrates thence mark the northerly extension of the routes.
On the western river, the natural road leaves the valley above
Mosul and penetrates into the Armenian highland through the
gorges in the neighborhood of Diarbekir. The very name Mosul,
a contraction of the Greek "Mesopylae" or Central Gates, sug-
gests its origin. The city grew at the meeting point of routes
from the Caspian, Black and Mediterranean seas and from the
Persian Gulf. The through highway links once more with the
224 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Euphrates in its upper readies around Keban Maden in order to
reach, the Anatolian plateau. The passes are precipitous and the
waters flow southward closely hemmed in by steep and rocky
barriers. Access to the billowy surface of Armenian mountain
lands is obtained by means of either the Murad Su or the Kara Su.
The union of these two rivers into the single watercourse known
as the Euphrates at a short distance above Keban Maden has
at all times attracted much of the traffic and travel between
Armenia and Mesopotamia. The eastern affluents of the Tigris
south of Lake Van, on the other hand, reach the uplifted core
of Armenia where they are lost in the tangle of steep valleys
and deeply broken surfaces.
Because it is a region of water dispersal, Armenia is also
the gathering-site of the heads of outflowing watercourses. If
the distance at the divide between the uppermost reaches of two
divergent watercourses be short, it is hardly a barrier to human
intercourse. This condition prevails in the uppermost reaches of
the Euphrates and of the Aras. The important town of Erzerum
is the symbol of this union. Within its walled area the traffic
of the central plateaus of Asia joined with Mesopotamian or
Black Sea and Mediterranean freight, after having followed the
easterly approach to Turkey through Tabriz and the southern
affluents of the Aras, north of TJrmiah Lake. Through this
eastern avenue of penetration Asiatic peoples and products have
been dumped century after century into Turkish territory.
The valley of the Euphrates, rather than that of the Tigris,
is therefore the main artery of communication between north and
south in eastern Turkey. It is the avenue through which the
ideas of Iran came into contact with Semitic thought. But the
uniting influence of the great river was far from being exerted
on Oriental peoples alone. In its broad southern course, the
river provided ancient merchants with a short-cut which greatly
facilitated land travel between the ^'gean or Mediterranean and
the Persian Gulf. Another city, Aleppo, is the geographical
monument which grew with the increase of travel in this stretch
of the Euphrates or declined as the channel became less and less
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 225
frequented. It is the western counterpart of Mosul in the sense
that it also is a point of convergence for routes proceeding from
every quarter of the compass.
The chief Turkish route leaves the Euphrates at the angular
bend near Meskeneh. A two-days' journey across the desert
brought the traveler to Aleppo. Beyond, the ancient road hugged
the shores of the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean and,
passing over the dull gray of the broad Cilician plain, headed
for the huge cleft in the limestones of the Taurus, known as the
Cilician Gates. Past this breach it is the plateau of Anatolia —
a region whose physical isolation has always influenced the life
of its inhabitants. Today, south of the Cilician Gates, the land
is Arabian in speech and Semitic in thought, while in the country
to the north the prevailing language is Turkish, which differs
from the refinement of Arabian as markedly as the crudity of
the Turkish mind differs from the intellectuality of the Arabian,
Thus through mountain tract and mountain trough the east
found its way into the Anatolian plateau. Conversely the west
made several successful scalings of its slopes. The valleys lead-
ing westward into the ^gean or northward into the Black Sea
acted as breaches which facilitated human travel. Among these
the Meander, Gediz and Sakaria are noteworthy. The "Eoyal
Eoad" of the Persian period connected Ephesus with Susa by
way of the Cilician Gates. It is described by Herodotus. Official
despatch-bearers traveled over it in the fulfilment of their mis-
sions. Ramsay places this road north of the desert center of
Asia Minor ^ and considers the southern route as the highway of
the Graeco-Eoman period. This last road is the shortest and
easiest between ^Egean ports and the Cilician Gates.
The history of inland Asia Minor is the record of travel over
the network of the region's roads. Its chief events consist of
military marches and trade travels. Urban life on this section
of the peninsula had its origin in caravan halts. The cities of
inner Anatolia represent successive stages of east-west travel.
' The Historical Geography of Asia Minor, Roy. Qeogr. 800. Suppl. Papers, Vol. 4,
1900, p. 27.
226 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Their alignment serves to trace tlie course of the road. To our
own day this part of Turkey has not heen a land of settlement.
In the southeastern half of Turkey human life has also been
confined to highway regions. This part of the world is known to
us as Syria or Mesopotamia, Both are depressed regions —
channels of human flow — bordering the western and eastern sides
of the Great Syrian desert which, wedge-like, interposes its
shifting solitude of sand between the two as far as the foothills
of the mountains on the north. West of Syria lies the Mediter-
ranean; east of Mesopotamia the mountains of Persia. With
such a pattern of land carving, it was natural that life and
activity should have gathered in the precise regions where the
historian finds them.
A dominant fact recurs in every stage of the region's history.
Turkey is so placed that its possession is the goal of every nation
which has risen to eminence in or around Turkish lands. Its
control ushers in a period of great prosperity in every instance.
Trade flows freely in the highways, carrying prosperity in its
wake. The energy of the fortunate nation is spent to maintain
the economic advantages secured. The loss of the highway zone
is accompanied by national decline. A new nation rises and
obtains the mastery of the road, and the cycle is repeated. The
western Asiatic highway may aptly be named a highway of
wealth or of misfortune.
At the beginning of the first pre-Christian millennium the
struggle for the possession of this highway was as keen and
sanguinary as it is at present. The empires of the Nile and
Mesopotamian basins, of the Syrian strip and of the Hittite
mountain lands mustered the flower of their manhood in yearly
arrays for the purpose of seizing or guarding the great arteries
of west Asiatic traffic. The short-lived prosperity of the Jewish
empire, at the time of Solomon, was attained immediately after
the country's boundaries extended from the Eed Sea and the
Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. Judea grew to splendor by
becoming sole mistress of the international routes which trav-
ersed Syria and Mesopotamia. Her greatness was transmitted
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 227
to Assyria with tlie loss of the land routes to that same empire
in the eighth century b.c. A hundred years later the Chaldeans
obtained possession of the highways. It is now their turn to
impose their will on neighboring nations. Another century slips
by and with it the greatness of Semitic states. In the east, men
of Aryan speech, mostly Persians, have begun to value the
present Turkish land routes. In 560 b.c. Cyrus is at the head of
cohorts which soon after give him mastery of Turkish Asia from
the ^gean to the Persian Gulf. To this conquest Darius adds
Egypt and India.
All these events center around one of the greatest struggles
ever fought between men. It is the conflict between Europeans
and Asiatics immortalized in Hellenic literature, — the clash
between two continents, each battling for the exclusive control of
the highway connecting them. The contestants met on this
Turkish highway, they fought over its plains and defiles, and
battled for its possession in the realization that the economic
prosperity upon which national wealth and greatness rest could
be secured only by its conquest.
A significant fact of the celebrated struggle is revealed by the
inability of the Greeks to conquer the Persians. They defeated
them and checked their westerly advance. The ^gean and
Eurasian waterways of Turkey proved an impassable moat to
the Persian invaders. As long as the Persians retained control
of the highways the menace of their brutal despotism faced the
liberal spirit of the Greeks. The danger was dispelled by
Alexander's conquest of the highway. No better instance of the
power vested in the effective hold of these lines of communication
between the east and west can be found.
All the history of Turkish lands is conditioned by their
location on the map. The region has occupied a conspicuous
position on the stage of world events since the earliest known
times. Faint rays of prehistoric light reveal it as the bridge
over which the race of round-headed men crossed into Europe
from Asia. During antiquity we find it to be the original seat
of civilizations which radiate outward in every direction. In
228 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
medieval times it is the great half -way station of the main artery
of world trade. We know of it in modern days as the center of
a mighty international struggle familiarly known as the Eastern
Question.
A world relation of such an enduring character must obviously
rest on exceedingly firm foundations. A search for its causes
leads us straight into the field of geography. Three elements,
namely, those of position, form and natural resources are pri-
marily accountable for the extraordinary interest which Turkey
has always awakened. The region is the Asiatic extension of
Mediterranean lands nestling against the great central mountain
mass of Asia. It is sharply separated from the rest of the
continent by a mountain wall which extends continuously from
the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf and is made up of the
Armenian and Zagros ranges. It is a peninsula, itself formed by
two distinct peninsulas, and one of the unit divisions of the
Asiatic continent in the sense that it is the only part of the entire
Asiatic continent subject to Mediterranean climatic influences.
By position first, at the junction of three continents and
therefore on the main field of history; secondly, as the site of
convergence of the maia avenues of continental travel and,
thirdly, by its situation in one of the two regions in which
climatic conditions proved most favorable for the early develop-
ment of humanity, Turkey, at first glance, appears to have been
eminently favored by nature. These advantages made it the
meeting place of races which are generally associated with the
three continents which the country unites. Aryan, Tatar and
Semitic peoples therefore are strongly represented in the land.
In considering Turkey as the meeting place of three continents
it is necessary that we should confine our conception of this fact
to the strictly literal sense of the term. The country is a
meeting place and nothing more. It has never been a transition
zone physically and, as a consequence, there has been very little
mingling of the different elements in its population. The very
shape of the land prevents fusion of the inhabitants into a single
people. The interior upland rises abruptly above a narrow
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 229
fringe of coastal lowland. Its surface features, consisting partly
of deserts and saline lakes, recall the typical aspect of central
Asia. On the other hand, the rich vegetation of the maritime
fringe reflects European characteristics. No better relic of Asia
Minor's former land connection with Europe exists than this strip
of the west soldered to the eastern continent. But the physical
union is clean-cut and, as a result, the change from the low-lying
garniture of green scenery to the bare tracts of the uplands is
sharp. These features make of Turkey a land of strange con-
trasts. Its coasts are washed by the waters of half a dozen seas
and yet in places a journey of barely twenty-five miles from the
shore lands the traveler squarely in the midst of a continental
district. [
So diversified a country could not be the land of patriotism,
and as we pick up the thread of its troubled history we find a
woeful absence of this spirit. In Byzantine times as in Ottoman
a selfish bias towards local interests, a parochial attachment of
the sordid type, pervades its population. A medley of peoples,
each filling its particular geographical frame and animated by
widely divergent ideals, are constantly engaged in looking abroad
rather than toward the land for the attainment of their hopes.
Nature fostered this condition. Communications between the
different regions have always been difficult. From the narrow
fringe of coastland to the interior plateau the ascent is steep.
More than that the maritime dweller of the lowland dreaded the
total lack of comfort which he knew awaited him on the arid
highland. Conversely the indolent inhabitant of this elevated
district realized that were he to settle near the coast he could
not compete successfully with the more active seafarers. As time
went on the coastal peoples — mainly Greeks — accustomed them-
selves to look beyond the sea for intercourse with the outside
world while the Turkish tenants of the interior land still kept in
their mind's eye the vast Asiatic background out of which they
had emerged.
In the same way the imposing barrier of the Taurus prevented
contact between the occupants of the districts lying north and
230 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
south of the mountain. The significance of this range to
Europeans cannot be overestimated. The mountain has proved to
be the chief obstacle to the northward spread of Semitic peoples
and their civilizations. Successive waves of southern invaders,
invariably of Semitic descent whether highly civilized or drawn
from tribes of savages, spent themselves in vain dashes against
the rocky slopes. The fact is verified historically whether we
consider the failure of Assyrians in antiquity, of the Saracens
during Middle Ages, or of the Egyptians and Arabs led by
Mehemet Ali in modern days. At present the linguistic boundary
between Turkish and Arabic occurs in this mountain chain and
Hogarth has expressed the fact in a realistic phrase by stating
that, at an elevation of about 2,000 ft., the Arabic speech is
chilled to silence.
To come back to the factor of Turkey's geographical position,
we fiind that while this feature has generated an attracting force
the shape of the land, on the other hand, promoted a constantly
repellent action. We have in this situation a remarkable conflict
which has exerted itself to the detriment of the inhabitants. The
centripetal action of position was always reduced to a minimum
by the centrifugal effects of form. The mountainous core made
up by the Anatolian table-land and the western highland of
Armenia was a center of dispersal of waters, and hence to a large
degree of peoples. Furthermore, however much the land was a
single unit with reference to the broad divisions of Asia, the
fact remains that it was greatly subdivided within itself. The
six main compartments into which it may be laid off have fos-
tered totally divergent civilizations. All of these conditions
were fundamentally fatal to the formation of nationality. They
only favored intercontinental travel and trade. In this respect
the coxm.try has been of the highest importance in the history of
the eastern hemisphere, and at present commands world-wide
attention.
In only one respect did position and form operate har-
moniously. Both agencies combined to create Turkey's relation
with the world beyond its borders. This relation was facilitated
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 231
by the admirable set of natural routes which led in and out of
the country. Beginning with the broad band of the Mediter-
ranean Sea, land and water routes succeed each other in close
sequence. The inland sea itself is prolonged through the .^gean
and the Turkish straits into the Black Sea, the shores of which
are closely dotted with the terminals of great avenues from
northeastern Europe, as well as all of northern and central
Asia. On the European mainland, the far-reaching Danube has
an outlet into Turkey through the Morava-Maritza valleys in
addition to its own natural termination. The Dnieper valley
plays an exceedingly important share in connecting Turkey to
northern lands. To the east the trough-like recesses in the folds
of the mountains of Armenia and Kurdistan lead to the great
Tabriz gate beyond which the Persian Gulf affords sea travel to
centers of civilization of the monsoon lands or westward to the
African coast. Land connection with this continent also exists
in the rift valley of Syria where the beginning of the African
rift system is found. Through the occurrence of all these
channels of penetration the history of Turkey finds place as a
special chapter in the history of the world's great nations. A
greater share of responsibility falls on the land for this relation
than on the Turks themselves.
The world relation of Turkish lands antedates, however, the
coming of the Turks by many a century. Problems summarized
in the familiar term Eastern Question have their origin in the
existence of the narrow waterways consisting of the Dardanelles,
Marmora and Bosporus. This water gap has exerted profound
influence in shaping the relation of Turkish territory to the out-
side world. The Eastern Question is as old as the history of
civilization on this particular spot of the inhabited world. It
could not be otherwise because, fundamentally, this momentous
international problem is merely that of determining which people
or nation shall control the strait. Who shall gather toll from
the enormous transit trade of the region? This is the economic
problem which has always deeply agitated the leading commer-
cial nations of the world. Its continuity is a proof of its
232 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
geographical character. As long as these straits exist at the
pouit of nearest convergence of the Balkan and Anatolian
peninsulas, identical problems are bound to recur on their site.
Beneath the shifting scenes of human events the abiding stage
persists in directing them into its own channels.
Accordingly as early as in late Minoan times and surely in
full Mycenean period, some fifteen hundred or two thousand
years before our era, we find the Eastern Question already vexing
the world. It centers first around Troy, because the city com-
manded the southwestern outlet of the straits and played the
same leading part in the history of its day as Constantinople has
played since then. The shifting of the site to the northeastern
end of the waterway represents the gradual spread of Hellenic
influence in northeastern maritime territory.
We can only come to an adequate conception of the role of
Troy in history by a clear understanding of the value of its site.
The city was a toll-station. Its citizens accumulated wealth in
the manner in which the burghers of Byzantium laid the founda-
tions of their vast fortunes. Schliemann's excavations brought to
light amazing treasures of precious metals and jewelry. These
riches may well be regarded as the price paid for the right of
the passage of vessels and their freight through the straits. Nor
is it strange to find that coincident with the decline of the
Homeric city, the earliest mention of Byzantium, its successor,
appears. Consistently with this method of viewing Trojan his-
tory it becomes possible to reach a rational understanding of
Homer's classic epic as the account of a secular struggle for the
possession of an eminently profitable site.^ The testimony of
history on the number of sieges which Constantinople has under-
gone is at least precise, although no literary masterpiece sheds
lustre on the events. It is impossible to escape from the
parallelism in the histories of Byzantium and Troy simply
because the geographical background of both sites is similar in
every respect. In the case of Troy, it meant convenient access
to the Pontine rearland, probably the first El Dorado recorded
" W. Leaf: Troy, A Study in Homeric Geography, London, 1912.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 233
by history — tlie land of fabulous treasures, in search of which
the Argonautic expeditions were equipped. With Byzantium, it
meant access to the luxuries which Asia could supply as far as
the Pacific.
So much for the antiquity of the Eastern Question, Passing
to another phase of Turkey's world relation we find that the
land's influence has even affected the discovery of America. We
now stand on the threshold of modern history and deal with a
broad economic problem which affected late medieval commerce
and which is an ever recurrent theme in that splendid period of
active human enterprise known as the Age of Discovery. The
dominant idea of the day was to find means of facilitating east-
west trade in the eastern hemisphere.
From earliest times commercial relations between the land of
Cathay and Europe had been one-sided. The east sold and the
west purchased. There was very little exchange. The products
which came from the east could all be classed as luxuries. They
constituted freight of small volume such as precious stones, fine
woods, essence and spices, the value of which generally ran high.
These commodities had been shipped to Europe for about two
millenniums prior to the fourteenth century of our era. Overland
the caravans plowed their way across the southern expanse of
Eussia's interminable steppeland and penetrated finally into the
plateaus of Iran and Anatolia. Their home stretch lay in
Turkey. By sea the traders were accustomed to end their
journeys at the head of the Persian Gulf, whence the valuable
wares would be shipped farther west via Mesopotamia. In this
case again the home stretch is found on Turkish soil. It was not
until about the end of the fourth century b.c. when the Egyptian
hamlet of Ehaecotis changed its name into that of Alexandria,
that this sea route was extended into the Eed Sea and Mediter-
ranean. At this time the vision of acquiring wealth through the
eastern trade began to dawn on the minds of the inhabitants of
the Mediterranean seaboard. Many centuries were to elapse,
however, before westerners realized that fortunes could be made
by venturing into eastern fields. The profits and the splendor
23^ FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of the eastern trade were popularized by Christendom when the
accounts of Marco Polo and the friar travelers of his time
became available. Then the ambition of every adventurous
merchant was to act as middleman in the trade with Cathay.
The bulk of the east-west trade in medieval time flowed
through the same two main arteries. The northern land route
from China through central Asia passed through the Tabriz and
Erzerum gates and ended at Trebizond, the rest of the journey
being made by sea through the Bosporus-Dardanelles passage.
The southerly course was an all-water route from the sea of
China to the Mediterranean.
The incentive to reduce cost of transportation was as strong
in those days as it is at present. The northern route being
mainly overland was a source of incessant worry to the trader.
The unrest which followed the appearance of Mohammedanism,
the reluctance of the adherents of Islam to deal with infidels,
rendered commerce more and more risky. Transportation by
land was slower and less profitable than by sea, as it is now.
Caravans could not avoid brigands as easily as ships could
escape pirates. It was not only a case of argosies reaching port
but also of camels escaping highwaymen. In addition, duties had
to be paid at four or five different points of transshipment. If
we examine the pepper and ginger trade alone — the supply of
both of which came from the east — ^we find that from Calicut, the
great emporium of trade on the Malabar coast, these spices were
carried by the Arabs to Jiddah and thence to Tor, on the
Sinaitic peninsula. Overland journeys began at the last point
and extended to Cairo. From the city a river journey on the Nile
to Eosetta followed, after which the freight was packed on
camels and sent to Alexandria. All these conditions made for
the increase of cost of the eastern wares which were supplied to
Europe.
With the cost of eastern commodities rising higher and
higher, as land transportation became more and more hazardous,
the minds of navigators naturally turned to the possibility of
discovering a sea-way to India and Cathay. The discovery of
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 235
America in the course of these endeavors to lower prevailing
freight rates was an inevitable consequence of economic condi-
tions. The chief point of interest resides in the fact that the
discovery which immortalized Columbus' name was accelerated
by fully half a century through the falling of Constantinople into
the hands of the Turks in 1453.
The capture of the Byzantine capital came as the death-blow
to an already declining commercial intercourse. Henceforth the
Moslem was to stand guard at the western gate through which
east-to-west intercontinental trade had passed; and there seemed
to be no doubt that he was firmly resolved to prevent the
Christian from traveling back and forth through his dominions.
It meant the definite closing of the western gate to eastern com-
merce. The first evil effects of the Turkish conquest were felt
by the Venetians and Genoese. The Venetians especially incurred
the wrath of Mohammed the Conqueror on account of the aid
they had rendered to the beleaguered capital. Greater leniency
was shown by the Turks to the Genoese, who had refrained from
open manifestations of sympathy with the Byzantines.
The Sultans themselves as well as their ministers were willing
to foster the trade which traversed their lands. It left a share
of its proceeds in the Turkish treasury. As a matter of fact,
coromerce between Turkish lands under Mohammedan rule and
the west existed only because of the income it brought to the
Turkish government. But the Turk could not compete success-
fully with the Christian in the markets of the world and this
proved a barrier to commerce. The significance of the Turkish
conquest of the Byzantine Empire is to be found therefore in
the fact that it practically cut off land communications between
western Europe and eastern Asia. Incentive to western
exploration was intensified. Before the fall of Constantinople
the discovery of a western sea route to the east was regarded
as highly desirable. It now became a necessity.
The possibility of reaching the Far East by a voyage through
the pillars of Hercules had suggested itself to the active intellect
of the Greeks and Bomans, yet the incentive to undertake
236 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
exploration did not acquire intensity until the latter half of the
fifteenth century. The Turkish advance into western Asia came,
therefore, as a shock whose impact forced trade out of the
Mediterranean through the straits of Gibraltar into the wide
Atlantic.
But there was another important result of the Turk's con-
quests in the Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas. The diversion
of the eastern trade from European land routes into sea lanes
impoverished the German-speaking inhabitants dependent on the
Danube artery of continental life. The land on either side of
this main highway was blessed with natural wealth, but its
treasures had been drained by the Vatican. The reformation,
which combined religious and political aspirations, was an excel-
lent opportunity for the chiefs of the small states scattered in
the long valley of the great river to pounce upon the landed
property owned by the Roman church and establish economic
conditions favorable to themselves.
The present world relations of Turkey may be summarized by
the statement that the country lies squarely in the path of both
Teutonic and Slavic advance. A natural course of expansion is
leading Germany to the southeast across the Balkan peninsula
into Turkey. The extension of frontiers required by Eussia
likewise impels Slavic conquest of Turkey. Overpopulation in
the one case and the need of access to ice-free waters in the
other make the contest inevitable. The Teuton is answering the
call of the land, the Slav that of climate. In both the problem
is mainly economic. At bottom it is the modern phase of the
Homeric struggle idealized in the Iliad.
The dismemberment of Turkey into European colonies is the
goal steadily held in view since the loss of the Holy Land to
Christendom. It will be the last chapter in the long history of
Europe's commercial conquest of western Asia. Three causes
militate in favor of an eventual partition. The country is rich
in natural resources. It is held by a people whose incompetence
to convert nature's gifts into use or profit is historically patent.
It also happens to occupy a commanding situation with reference
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 237
to the trade of Europe with Asia and Africa. These three points
are fundamental in the solution of the Turkish problem.
The European nations most vitally concerned in the dismem-
berment of the Sultan's dominions are four in number. Great
Britain's interest is born of the Empire's relation to Egypt and
India. The cause of Eussian progress depends on the country's
access to warm seaports. Germany is the newcomer on the scene
and, as a land power, is engaged in extending her land area. To
her sons Turkey offers an attractive colonization area and at the
same time the land route which will render them independent of
the sea-way passing through Suez to the east. As a colonial
power of the first magnitude, no less than on account of her
millions of Mohammedan subjects, France cannot be disinterested
in the fate of the corelands of Islam.
Turkey is the Asiatic pendant of the intercontinental highway
represented in Europe by the Balkan peninsula. Through Asia
Minor the land provides a convenient causeway between Asia and
Europe. Through Arabia it connects Asia to Africa. Again,
through the combined position of Asia Minor and Syria it
becomes possible to maintain continuous land travel from Europe
to Africa. Turkey is thus the ideal center of the eastern hemi-
sphere. Mastery of its territory is bound to turn the flow of
intercontinental trade into the lap of its holders. The entire his-
tory of European conflict over Turkish lands is wrapped up in
this geographical fact.
Italians were the pioneers of European trade with Turkey
after the consolidation of Ottoman power. In this Genoese and
Venetian traders merely followed in the footsteps of their
fathers, whose dealings with the Byzantines had been consider-
able. French merchants were not slow to compete with Italians.
In the fifteenth century British drapers and commissioners begin
to appear in the Levant. Germans show signs of activity a
hundred years later, but confine their operation mainly to the
European dominions of the Sultans. From these beginnings to
the twentieth-century territorial claims of the great powers is
but a natural economic unfolding.
238 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Turkey's remarkably central position in the eastern hemi-
spliere makes the country the threshold of Great Britain's
Asiatic dominions as well as the natural land connection between
British Africa and British Asia. From India westward and from
the British zone in southern Persia as defined by the Anglo-
Eussian convention of 1907, to the Sultanate of Egypt, southern
Turkey, represented by Lower Mesopotamia and Arabia, is the
only stretch of territory in which the British government does
not exercise direct control; and the task of consolidating British
influence in these two regions of the Turkish Empire is well
advanced.
In the economic life of modern Mesopotamia British influence
is paramount. About 90 per cent of the trade of Basra and
Bagdad is in British hands. Steam navigation on the Euphrates
and Tigris with its attendant privileges of transportation is a
monopoly exercised by the British. This means that all the
Persian trade which enters or leaves the country through its
southern Turkish border must pay toll to British capital.
Most important of all, the stupendous task of reclaiming the
great twin-river valley has been undertaken by British enter-
prise.
The area of agricultural lands in Lower Mesopotamia is gen-
erally calculated at ten times the total surface of farming land
in Egypt. The territory suited for cultivation extends north-
ward from the Persian Gulf roughly to a line drawn from the
bend of the Euphrates at Anah to Tekrit on the Tigris. Its
eastern boundary is defined by the Zagros and Pusht-i-Koh moun-
tains. On the west it reaches the Great Syrian desert as far as
its junction with the plateau of Arabia. Thus defined the region
is the great alluvial plain of Mesopotamia. A stretch of land
remarkably rich in humus, it only needs a just rule and com-
petent engineers in order to become highly productive.
In olden days the entire district was one vast field. Its
fertility had earned it the name of granary of the world.
Herodotus extols its productivity: ". . . In grain it is so fruitful
as to yield commonly two-hundred fold. The blade of the wheat
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 239
plant and barley plant is often four fingers in breadth."* In
their present state the once productive lands present the appear-
ance of a desert. The old irrigation ditches are in ruins. Mile
upon mile of parched, cloggy soil or dreary marsh take the place
of ancient fields.
The reclamation of this arid country was undertaken in 1908
by British engineers ' headed by Sir William Willcocks. In the
Delta region of Mesopotamia, comprising the entire drainage
vaUey extending south of Hit on the Euphrates and of Samarra
on the Tigris, between 12 and 13 million acres of first-class
irrigation land were to be converted into productive areas. In
spite of Turkish opposition the work advanced with sufficient
rapidity for the Hindiyeh Barrage to be inaugurated in 1914.
At a distance of twenty centuries a handful of plucky north-
erners had, notwithstanding well-nigh insurmountable obstacles,
put the last touches to a drainage project begun on the same
spot by Alexander the Great, the construction of a new head for
the Hindiyeh branch or Pallocopas having been that monarch's
first public work in Babylonia.*
In the Persian Grulf British influence advanced by great
strides during the present century. Within the last ten years
the policing of the gulf waters and harbors has been undertaken
by Britain's men-of-war. An appreciable curtailment of the
trade in firearms followed the tracking of gun-runners by British
captains. The important towns of the Persian and Arabian
coast are virtually British possessions. Bushire ° on the eastern
shore, Koweit on the west are protectorates. The trend of it all
is to advance India's western frontier to the line of the
Euphrates.
For G-reat Britain's attitude toward Turkish politics is
dictated by Delhi rather than London. As ruler of the most
= Bk. 1, Chap. 193. Babylonia's fertility is also noticed by other ancient writers.
Cf. footnote of Rawlinson's Herodotus, New York, 1859, Vol. 1, p. 258.
* W. Willcocks: The Irrigation of Mesopotamia, New York, 1911, pp. 13-14.
' Bushire with a population of about 20,000 inhabitants owes its im'portance to its
being the southern sea terminal of the caravan route which starts at Teheran and
passes through Isfahan and Shiraz.
240 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
numerous political group of Mohammedans in the world, the king
of England's residence in his European capital cannot affect
India's geographical needs, among which the maintenance of a
clear road from its shores to the mother island is of prime
import. Thus the establishment of a British zone in southern
Persia and the attempt to substitute British law in Mesopotamia
where, after all, the Sultan's authority is most precarious in
character, merely reveal England's necessity of consolidating her
power over the approaches to her great Asiatic colony.
In dealing with Indian geography and the vast body of
Mohammedan Hindus, attention is necessarily riveted on the
question of Arabia. British stewardship of the peninsular table-
land seems inevitable. Not that those huge wastes of burning
sand contain resources convertible into profit; but Arabia repre-
sents a wedge of barbarism driven in between the civilizing
influences exerted by Great Britain in Egypt and India. The
danger of its becoming a generating center of revolutionary
currents involving British colonigil policies in destruction is not
mythical. Millions of Indian Moslems turn daily ia prayer
toward the direction of the Kaaba. A glance at India's history
suffices to reveal the extent to which the Sea of Oman has linked
the two peninsulas.
To detach Arabia from a shadowy allegiance to the Sultan of
Turkey and bring it within the uplifting sphere of British
activity was part of the political program elaborated at Downing
Street after the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. In pur-
suance of this policy British influence is now markedly felt along
Arabia's three coasts. It is firmly planted on the southeast,
where Arabia is nearest to India. From Koweit to Muscat
every petty potentate exercising an antiquated patriarchial
authority has learned to rely on British protection against
Turkish encroachments. Aden, on the southwest coast, is a lone
outpost of civilization from which western ideas radiate and
occasionally reach the plateau land of Yemen or the niggardly
wastes of Hadramut. This British seaport is the natural outlet
of Yemen. Products of the favored districts around Kataba, as
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 24)1
well as between this town and Sana 'a, can be transported with
greater facility to Aden than by the arduous routes which lead
to Ked Sea harbors.
The question of Arabia involves other considerations. Mecca
and Medina, its holy cities, are essentially the religious center
of the Islamic world. From their sites Mohammedanism has
spread about 4,000 miles both east and west. Among Arabs as
well as the majority of Mohammedans outside of Turkey desire
for the restoration of the Caliphate at Mecca is strong. Arabs
especially consider the Sultans as usurpers of the title. Selim I
had been the first to adopt it after the conquest of Egypt and
Arabia in 1517. Arabs however refuse to recognize the right of
any but descendants of the Prophet's family to this supreme post
of the Mohammedan ecclesiastical hierarchy. According to
Islamic traditions the Caliph must be a member of the Koreishit
tribe. This explains why any ambitious leader who succeeds in
circulating the report of his relationship with Mohammed's
progeny has always secured a following among his co-religionists
in Asia or Africa.
The Arabs have aired this chief grievance of theirs in English
ears. They found ready sympathy among British officials no
less than among the leaders of their faith in Egypt or India.
The complete severance of the Mohammedan Caliphate from the
Turkish Sultanate will, therefore, be a probable result of Franco-
British success in the present war. The reestablishment of the
Prophet's family in its hereditary right and capital will have
the advantage of providing Islam with a geographical center at
the very point of its birth.
Modem German ascendancy in Turkey has constituted the
gravest menace to the British project of uniting Egypt to India
by a broad band of British territory. German diplomacy has
exerted its best efforts during the past generation in the attempt
to defeat this design. In overcrowded Germany the need of
land for colonization is felt as keenly as the necessity of pro-
viding new markets for the country's busy industries. Germany
does not contain within its borders an agricultural area of
242 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
sufficient extent for the requirements of its fast-growing popula-
tions. Against this it has been estimated that with adequate
irrigation Asia Minor can turn out a million tons of wheat
annually, as well as at least 200,000 tons of cotton. The basis of
Teutonic southeasterly expansion lies in these facts. The
immediate aim of German imperialism is to spread through
Austria and the Balkan peninsula into Turkey down to the Gulf
of Alexandretta and the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. But
its realization implies the shattering of British projects.
This rivalry in the west Asian field became inevitable from
the moment that men of German speech became conscious of the
power they had acquired in 1870 by banding together in a single
state. The task of national consolidation once accomplished, the
thought of German leaders naturally turned eastward in the
direction in which land extended. Eight years later the prestige
acquired by the newborn empire gave it a decisive voice in the
treaty of Berlin. The first peg in the line of the Teutons' south-
easterly march was driven then by the revision of Bulgarian
frontiers delimited by the treaty of San Stefano. The Slavic
obstacle seemed removed from the Teutons' path and its place
filled by the more easily negotiable Turkish obstruction.
From the date of that treaty to the events of these years of
war Germany's conduct in Turkey has been determined entirely
by the call of the land. In 1882 a German military commission
undertakes to reorganize the Turkish army. In 1889 the Deutsche
Bank — whose directors are leaders of Germany's oversea affairs
— is granted a concession for a through line from Constan-
tinople to Konia. This concession has since been modified so
as to comprise the trans-Anatolian trunk railway which connects
the capital with Bagdad. In 1898 the Kaiser visits Damascus in
person, there solemnly to proclaim assurances of his unalterable
good-will to the millions of Mohammedans scattered over the
surface of the earth. In 1902 the Bagdad line is definitely
awarded to a group of capitahsts, among whom Germans repre-
sent the majority of investors. From that date on, railroad,
mining and irrigation concessions in Turkey seemed to have been
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 243
reserved exclusively for Germans. The transfer of Turkey's
unexploited riches to German ownership became almost an
accomplished fact.
It was the "Drang nach Osten," a movement directed pri-
marily by the valleys of the Danube and the Morava, and forking
out subsequently along the Vardar and Maritza gaps. To clear
this road to Turkey, Serbia was wiped off the map of Europe in
the fall of 1915 by Teutonic armies. For this too had Serbian
nationality been split into three separate bodies at the behest of
Teutonic diplomatists. Bosnia and Herzegovina, lands Serbian
in heart and logic, were administered by Austria, an empire in
name like Turkey but virtually ruled by Prussia since the day
of Sadowa. Montenegro, of old the refuge of martyred Serbia,
had always been prevented by Austria from uniting with its
sister state. In truth Serbia lay under the bane of a geographical
curse. It was always in the way.
The misfortune of position is shared fully by Turkey.
Coming at right angles to Germany's southeasterly drive, Eus-
sia's steady southwesterly advances in the nineteenth century
foreshadowed the conversion of all the Black Sea and its
Bosporus entrance into Eussian waters. "With the most inacces-
sible parts of the Armenian mountains in Eussian hands since
1878, further expansion through western Armenia into Anatolia
cannot be delayed much longer.
The Eussian viewpoint deserves every consideration. Eussia
lies benumbed by the cold of her frozen land. She has had one
long winter since the dawn of her nationality. The chief reason
why her sons have been laggards in the liberal progress of the
past hundred years must be sought in this simple fact of
geography. Eussia does not need more land or fresh resources.
She only seeks the warmth of the sun's rays. Geographically it
is Eussia rather than Germany who is entitled to "her place
under the sun." Today more than ever, and because of her newly-
won liberty and democratic institutions, Eussia needs a window
on the sunny side of her national dwelling.
Eussian access to the open sea in the southwest can be
244! FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
secured either at Constantinople or Alexandretta. The Bosporus
route is the more advantageous, as the markets for products of
the plains of southern Russia are strewn along Mediterranean
coasts. But mastery of the Bosporus is of little value to Eussia
without possession of the Dardanelles strait. The Marmora is
but the lobby of the Black Sea. The entire Bosporus-Dardanelles
waterway must, therefore, be Eussian in order to allow the
country to reap the full advantages of attaining ice-free seas. If
fifty years ago the question was merely one of political foresight,
today it has assumed vital importance, for southwestern Eussia 's
economic development, in the present century, has made the coun-
try absolutely dependent on Balkan and Mediterranean markets.
As an alternative, the harbor of Alexandretta finds favor
among Eussians. It lies at a distance of only 450 miles from the
southern Caucasus frontiers. Moreover, it is part of the ancient
land of Armenia, which sooner or later is destined to become a
Eussian province in its entirety. Such an extension of Eussian
territory to blue water on the Mediterranean has significance in
two ways. It would redeem a land that has remained Christian
in spite of centuries of Mohammedan yoke and it might effec-
tively bar German access to the Persian Gulf.
Eussian influence in Turkey differs signally from the control
exerted by its three western competitors. British, German and
French encroachments on Turkish sovereignty have increased in
proportion to the amount of capital expended by each of these
countries for the development of Turkish resources. In this
respect Eussia, which is not a country of financiers, stood at a
disadvantage. To overcome this handicap Eussians resorted to
borrowing from France and England, mainly the former, and
invested the funds thus obtained in Turkey. Such transactions
have in reality been the means of strengthening French and
British ascendancy in the Ottoman land. The northeastern
region of Anatolia, which, owing to its contiguity to Eussia, was
regarded as a sphere of Eussian influence, has lately been looked
upon often as a zone of French interests, owing to the partici-
pation of French capital in its development. But from a geo-
Copijrujilt ha Cnderiroud d- ( iKltricuu,!
Fio. 55.
Cnpij right by Undenrood >!:■ Vuderwood
Fig. 54 — View of tlie liarl)(ir of Odessa.
Fig. 55 — Export wheat ready to lie loaded at Odessa.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY
245
^ KLngdom of
*■ Jerusalem
Q County of
<^ Tripoli
o Principality
-^ of Antioch
A County of
■^ Edessa,
graphical standpoint this French zone is artificial. Its depend-
ence on Kussia cannot be altered as long as its position on the
map remains unchanged.
France's natural sphere of interest in Turkey will be found
in the Syrian vilayets. This is not due to the financing of Syrian
public utilities and indus-
tries by French capitalists
as is often alleged. It is
the offspring of the Medi-
terranean which, since the
dawn of history, has con-
nected the southern French
coast to Syrian harbors.
Phoenician oversea trade
in the first millennium be-
fore the Christian era
had reached the coasts of
Provence and Languedoc.
Marseilles, a city born of
this intercourse, has main-
tained commercial rela-
tions with Syria uninter-
ruptedly down to the pres-
ent time.
Franco-Syrian ties were strengthened considerably during the
Crusades. The conquest of Syria and Palestine by the Arabs
diverted the thoughts of Christendom from the economic impor-
tance of these lands to their religious appeal. France, "the
eldest daughter of the Church," took the lead ia the attempt to
wrest the Holy Land from its Mohammedan conquerors, —
"Gesta Dei per Francos." Many of the petty states founded by
noblemen who took part in the Crusades were ruled by French-
men. Antioch and Tripoli had French princes, Jerusalem a
French king. The title of Protector of Oriental Christians con-
ferred by the Papacy on French kings had its origin in the active
part played by France in the Crusades.
Fig. 56 — French states in Syria at the
time of the Crusades. Scale, 1:11,500,000.
Based on PI. 68, Historical Atlas, by W. R.
Shepherd, Holt, New York, 1911.
246 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
France has exercised a dominant intellectual influence in the
Levant for at least seven centuries. Turks bestow the appella-
tion "Frank" on Europeans without discrimination of nation-
ality. Western ideas which have trickled down to Turkish soil
are French in character. French schools in Turkey are more
numerous than any other. The civilizing power of French cul-
ture showed its strength by the readiness with which it asserted
itself in the midst of uncongenial Turkish thought. France's
hold on Turkey is thus of a high moral order. It differs in
this respect from the material claims of the other European
powers.
At the same time through the investments of French capi-
talists a well-defined zone of French interests has been created
in Syria. Excepting the Hejaz line every railroad in the
province has been financed in France. The silk factories of the
Lebanon, around which the whole industrial life of Syria
clusters, were started by French citizens. Their annual product,
usually estimated at half a million kilograms of silk, is exported
to France. Syrian silk farmers in need of funds for the annual
purchase of cocoons raise their loans exclusively among the
banking houses of Lyons. French interests are not confined to
Syria alone; fully one-half of the amount of one billion dollars
representing Turkey's official debt to Europe has been advanced
by French financial institutions.
It is difficult to assign a place to Italy in the array of
European claimants for Turkish territory. The trade between
Italian and Turkish seaports has lost the relative importance it
had acquired in medieval times. Italian pretensions to Adalia
Bay and its rearland are of quite recent date and the result of
conquests in Libya. But beyond vaguely formulated promises
for railway concessions from the Turkish government no ties
bind the region to Italy. Italy however created its own sphere
of interest somewhat unintentionally by the occupation of the
islands of the Dodecanesia. By this act it distanced every other
European country in the race for a share of Turkey.
The group of islands lying off the southwestern coast of
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 247
Anatolia is now held by Italy in virtue of stipulations covenanted
with Turkey at the treaty of Lausanne. According to the terms
agreed upon, Italy was to occupy the islands in guarantee of
Turkish good faith pledged to prevent anti-Italian agitation in
Libya. Upon complete pacification of the latest territorial
addition to Italy's African domain, the political fate of the
islands was to be determined jointly by the six Great European
Powers.
The islands, between twelve and fifteen in number, are
peopled exclusively by Greeks. Hellenic customs, language and
religion have survived upon each in spite of centuries of Turkish
rule. Italian sovereignty, however benevolent or likely to pro-
mote the welfare of the islanders, is disliked equally at Patmos,
Leros, Cos and Ehodes. The remaining islands are relatively
unimportant, some consisting of mere uninhabited rocks emerg-
ing two or three hundred feet above the sea. But to the smallest
inhabited islet, annexation to Greece is keenly desired. The
Italians were hailed as liberators from the Turkish oppression
by the hardy fishermen who labored under the impression that
their island homes had been rescued in order to be annexed to
Greece. Their disappointment was expressed in mass meetings
at Patmos and Cos in 1913.
Bacial and historical considerations add their weight to the
linguistic claims advanced by Greeks in Greece and the Dode-
canesia. As sailors the islanders have maintained to this day
classical traditions of Hellenic maritime activity in the region.
The islands in fact constitute lands of unredeemed nationality
whose natives are without a single exception akin to the conti-
nental Greeks.
This fact combined with a distribution of a numerically pre-
ponderant Greek element along the western coast of Anatolia
makes the ^gean a truly Greek sea. Structurally the coast
lands encircling this body of water are identical. In the east as
in the west they constitute the warped margin of a subsided
area. Identity of land and peoples has given rise to Greek
claims on western Turkey. Greece, therefore, keeps in line with
248 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
other European nations in expecting a share in the inheritance
of the moribund Turkish state.
The claim is historical no less than economic. The associa-
tion of the jEgean religion with centuries of Hellenism and fully
one millennium of Byzantinism is by no means severed in modern
days. For the second time in its glorious history the ancient
city of Athens has become the social, political and intellectual
center of the Greek world. In one and the same prospect the
Greek capital can point with pride to the Hellenic splendor
exhaled from Anatolian ruins and to her modern sons achieving
daily economic victories over the Turk in his own land.
In this spectacle of nations lying athwart each other's path
the clue to the adequate settlement of the Turkish problem may
be found. Turkey is before anything else a roadway — a bridge-
land. As soon as this point of practical geography is recognized
it will be easy to provide international legislation in which the
claims of interested powers will be harmonized. But no solution
of the political problem involved can ever be attained without
full consideration of its geographical aspects. Failure to recog-
nize this would leave the Eastern Question in the hopeless tangle
in which it has lain for over a century.
As the seat of through routes Turkey and its railroad play
a great part in international transportation. Hence it is that
the Turkish lines, with exception of the Hejaz railroad, are
controlled by financiers grouped according to nationality. At
present the majority of shareholders in each of the concessions
belong to one or the other of the great European powers.
The broad Eurasian landmass contains three densely popu-
lated areas. Of these central Europe is the westernmost. The
Indian peninsula follows, situated approximately midway between
the European area and the coastlands and islands of eastern
Asia, which form the easternmost of the three. In these three
regions only does the average density of population exceed 64
inhabitants to the square mile. The speediest and most con-
venient routes between the westernmost and the two Asiatic
regions must inevitably cross Turkey. This feature, together
The American Geographical Societ;^ of New Yorl^
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, PI. V
25
30
Kertoh
%
/ 'V-^-
Sevastopol
jOu
40k-_
Cof
Kastamun^J^'
%r
^.
>
'"Theodosia
Novorossis
oDerat
.' EXTENSION OF
,, . / w_ THE HE JAZ LBVE
t, k.Z TOWARD MECCA
luez \» oMaan
V Scale 1 = 20,000,000
\ 100 ^tLj.^a-S"'""*'
30
Tebuko s
Assuan
•THE '
■OODECANKlI'
-V
■. &'^
20
THE CENTRAL POSITION
OF TUllKEY WITH REFERENCE
TO INTERCONTINENTAL TRAFFIC
Equatorial Sci»I« H 94,000,000
Tv^
^r9j— tv-
■■•A' ,•'''"
ARA£[AV SBj'.
A^
QiAYOP
BENGAL
20 30
■' ABYSSINIA- / / \J;'\
30 80 70 80
Medina
Mecca
v" <f, ■ :■) Amrah
>HodeidV-'**i -
l^^^ or
ABTi SSINIA vi>-^
20
10
30
33
40
46
SN1-011R X Black, n
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 249
with the fact that Asiatic Turkey is a land richly endowed with
natural resources and that, although lying at Europe's very
door, it is still undeveloped, confer upon Turkish railroads an
importance which has always been keenly realized by enterpris-
ing business men the world over.
All travel between Europe and Asia is deflected into northern
and southern channels by a central mass of mountains which
separate a vast lowland of plains and steppes on the north from
the tablelands of southern Asia. Age-old avenues of human
migration and of trade in the northern area have the disadvan-
tage of traversing sparsely inhabited regions. To build trans-
continental railroads along this route implies scaling some of
the highest mountain ranges in the world in order to tap the
populous centers of India. Although this is not beyond the
engineer's ability, capitalists decline to consider it. Southern
routes, on the other hand, link with the seas that set far inland
on Asiatic coasts. The function of the Turkish trunk lines is
to provide the shortest connection between European railways
and the steel tracks of southern Asia or to connect with the sea
routes that link harbor to harbor from the Persian Gulf to the
China Sea.
Although lying at Europe's very door and in spite of its
extreme antiquity as the abode of civilized man, Asia Minor
presents the strange anomaly of being one of the world's least
developed regions. It was only after the Crimean War that rail-
road construction was undertaken within the peninsula. The
granting of railway concessions enabled the Sultan to pay his
debt of gratitude to the western nations which had assisted him
in checking the natural efforts of the Eussians to add a strip of
ice-free coast to their country's southwestern boundary. With
the exception of a single line every kilometer of track in the
peninsula has been built by Europeans. As is always the case
in undeveloped areas, the districts tapped by the various lines
became economically dependent on the roads that hauled their
products and supplies. This circumstance induced tacit recog-
nition of spheres of foreign influence in which commercial, and
250 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
attendant political, preponderance leaned strongly towards the
country which supplied the capital with which the raUroads were
buUt. Wherever, as in Syria, vaguely defined spheres of
European influence had previously existed, the advent of engines
and cars contributed to strengthen them considerably. The
routes determined by the steel-clad tracks may therefore be con-
sidered as approximate center-lines of these spheres of foreign
influence. It is on this basis that six distinct spheres may be
marked out as follows :
(1) A British sphere extending over the entire drainage
basin of the Meander and traversed by the British-owned Aidin
railway.
(2) A French sphere which was originally confined to the
drainage of the Gediz river, the ancient Hermos, but which,
through privileges acquired as a result of the successful opera-
tion of the French-owned Cassaba railway, now extends north-
wards to the Sea of Marmora. This additional sphere is divided
into two equal east and west areas by the French-owned Soma-
Panderma railroad.
(3) A German sphere — the most important of these spheres
of foreign influence — ^which, beginning at the Bosporus, trav-
erses the entire peninsula diagonally by way of the inviting
routes provided by surface features and extends southeasterly
through Mesopotamia to the Persian Gulf.
(4) A Franco-Eussian sphere which was originally allotted
to Eussia and which comprises all of the area north of the
German zone described above. Eussia 's inability to finance rail-
way enterprise in this area, no less than political ties which bind
this country to France, led to French participation. As a result
of this dual arrangement construction on the French-owned
Samsoun-to-Sivas line was begun in 1913.
(5) A second French sphere comprising all of Syria. It is
considered by Frenchmen as their most important sphere
of influence in Turkey. The French-owned Beirut-Aleppo,
Tripoli-Homs and Jaffa- Jerusalem lines are operated in this
area.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 251
(6) An Italian sphere extending inland from the extreme
southwestern coast of Asia Minor so as to include the hinterland
of the Gulf of Adalia. Italy is a recent invader of this field. Its
ambitions were revealed in the fall of 1913, after it became known
that negotiations had been carried on between the representative
of the Italian bondholders of the Ottoman Public Debt and the
Turkish government for the concession of a railway line to con-
nect the seaport of Adalia and the town of Burdur, the south-
easterly terminus of the Aidin railway.
(7) With these six spheres a contested seventh should be
mentioned, which is constituted by the exceedingly rich mineral
district situated at the northern convergence of the valleys of
the Tigris and Euphrates. Eussian, French and German inter-
ests claim respective rights of priority to its exploitation.
None of these divisions would be recognized officially as such
in Turkey. But then ethnographic boundaries are likewise
strictly ignored by the rulers of that country. Definite official
recognition of these spheres is nevertheless implied in the terms
of a number of commercial covenants signed by Turkey and
various European powers according to which the right to operate
railroads, and even mines sometimes, is granted by the Turkish
government exclusively to a single company which in almost
every instance is owned by capitalists of the same nationality.
The Eusso-Turkish convention of 1900, which reserved to Eus-
sians rights of preemption on railroad building in the area
called the Franco-Eussian sphere, may be mentioned as an
example. Similarly the Bagdad Eailway Convention of 1902,
formally signed by the German ambassador and the Turkish
Minister of Public Works, recognized the exclusive rights of the
Bagdad Eailway Company — a German enterprise — to build the
important trans-peninsular route which will link Eul-ope to Asia
and Africa.
One might infer that the existence of these six spheres should
be attributed to Turco-European agreements. Closer scrutiny
brings to light, however, the working of purely natural forces,
explanation of which is to be found in the geography of Asia
252 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Minor. These international railroad conventions, and the areas
determined by their text, represent in reality the outcome of the
geographical conditions which are grouped here under the two
major heads of world relation and regional features.
World relation is an attribute of geographical location.
Situated as a junction area, a bridge as it were, between two
continents, Asia Minor stands out as an excellent type of an
intermediate region which has participated in the life of both.
This two-fold influence has been particularly marked whenever
general progress in either continent culminated in an overflow
beyond continental boundaries. The feats of Greeks and
Persians, and of .Byzantines and Turks, may be considered as
successive cycles in which the spirit of Europe or of Asia pre-
dominated in turn. At the end of each cycle life on the peninsula
would revert to conditions determined largely by regional
influences. The past sixty years have witnessed the beginning of
a process of slow liberation from the effects of the last cycle of
Asiatic invasion. The spirit of the west is ushered in once more
for the simple reason that it has become necessary to maintain
a clear road over which the products of overworked European
factories will be transported to populous markets in southern
Asia. The primary cause of European influence must therefore
be traced back to Asia Minor's location, by virtue of which the
peninsula has always been the site of an important world route.
Aryans of the present century are merely preparing themselves
to travel by rail the highway over which their far-removed
ancestors tramped on foot.
Besides offering the shortest overland route between the
Baltic Sea and the Indian Ocean, Asia Minor's favored location
affords the same convenience with regard to land communication
between Europe and Africa. Any line diverging southwards at
a suitable point on the main trunk which traverses the peninsula
diagonally may be prolonged through Syria to the Turco-
Egyptian frontier and extended in Africa so as to connect with
the Cape-to-Cairo railroad. While no definite steps have yet
been taken to secure this desirable connection, the project has
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 253
been under consideration for over a decade and it may be sur-
mised that its execution will not be deferred much longer.
But world relation is also determined by a region's natural
resources. Notwithstanding its undeveloped state, Asia Minor is
known to have been abundantly endowed with all the primary
products required by modern man's complex life. The valleys
connecting its coast line with the inland ranges are exceedingly
fertile. This is particularly true of its western and northern
area. The high plateau of the interior needs only to be irrigated
in order to become a vast granary. Its mineral wealth is so
abundant and varied that it may be asserted that no other area
of the same dimensions can be compared to it. Its flora is
extremely diversified. Its forest belts are still considerable,
despite a lack of legislation for insuring their conservation and
rational exploitation. The slopes facing its three seas from the
upper coniferous belts to the lower olive tree zone, support a
great variety of economic species. iWe have here all the elements
which satisfy man's natural desire for space after he has reached
a given stage of development. This desire is imposed by
economic requirements which impel activity in fields that must
be kept expanding. The zones must be hence regarded as spheres
of economical rather than political influence. They indicate
natural foresight on the part of powerful political agglomerations
preparing the way for future industrial and commercial advan-
tages. At bottom it is an expression of man's growing ability
to shape his destinies according to his requirements and free
himself from the limitations imposed by frontiers. The economic
phase of Asia Minor's geography thus contributes its full share
in the determination of these spheres of foreign interests.
Asia Minor may be considered as the eastern emergence of
the continental shelf supporting the European peninsula. Its
saHent physical features are a central plateau surrounded by a
rim-like succession of ranges which are fringed in turn by a
coastal strip of land. A gradual ascent from west to east can be
observed. The western ranges have a mean altitude of about
2,000 feet above sea level. The plateau has an average height of
254 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
3,000 feet. The Armenian upland generally exceeds 4,000 feet.
Access from the sea to the interior is impeded by the moun-
tainous barrier reared as a natural bulwark. The gaps made by
"watercourses alone permit communication. As most of the rivers
are not navigable, an important method of exploration is thus
closed to adventurous roamers, whether native or foreign. This
lack of fluvial communication has greatly hindered intercourse.
Eivers have constituted the ancient ethnic boundaries between
the inhabitants of the peninsula.® Communication between dis-
tricts has been carried on mainly from harbor to harbor.
Although the peninsula is in direct contact with three seas its
mountainous rim prevents benign maritime influences from
extending to its interior. Its climate may therefore be classed
as extreme Mediterranean in type. All these combined factors
annul to a large extent the effects of peninsular conditions.
The region is not as salubrious as its elevation might imply.
It is an area which has been occupied by communities of men
actively engaged in human pursuits at various periods of history,
and which has been subsequently abandoned to itself or rather
to the working of causes in which man had no part. Gradual
desiccation of the plateau is evinced by the presence of desert
wastes coated with alkaline precipitates, by receding lakes and
all the manifestations accompanying the decline of a hydro-
graphic system. The salt lake occupying the central part of the
plateau is in reality nothing but a vast marsh. Hydrographic
changes are not confined merely to the interior of Asia Minor
but exert their action on the coast itself. The bays of Tarsus
and Ephesus are now much shallower than they were two thou-
sand years ago.^ The general result is to impair settlement.
Eeoccupation of the soil must often be preceded by sanitation
and it is only within recent times that this important tool has
been perfected by man so as to enable him to wield it effectively
in the conquest of fresh sites of occupancy.
Viewed therefore from its broadest aspect the problem of
= Vivien de St. Martin: Asie Mineure, Vol. 11, p. 386.
' Eeclus : Asie Antfirieure, pp. 509 and 522.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 255
European control of Asia Minor resolves itself into one of
renewed settlement. It is therefore pertinent to inquire how this
condition coupled with regional influences has affected each of
the six spheres.
Englishmen were the first to engage in Turkish railway found-
ing. The Aidin railway, which links the thriving port of
Smyrna to the Anatolian plateau at Dineir, represents an invest-
ment of about $50,000,000, or about a third of all the money
invested in Turkey by the British public. This road taps the
fertile Meander valley and has proved a remunerative under-
taking to its owners, although it has not been subsidized by the
Turkish government. The line is credited with the best manage-
ment in Turkey. Its well-ballasted track and the splendid
condition of its rolling stock impress the traveler most favorably.
English capital is also represented in other lines built in Turkey,
though only as minority holdings.
This British zone of influence is at present the best developed
region in Asia Minor. Its northern boundary is determined by
the divide separating the watersheds of the Gediz and the
Meander rivers. The Aidin railway follows the course of the
last-named river to its very sources at about 1,000 feet below
the general western level of the plateau.' The eastern boundary
of the sphere is defined by the end of the natural road at one of
the abrupt slopes leading to the plateau in the vicinity of lakes
Burdur and Ajituz. Its southern frontier reaches the districts
which supply the railroad with traffic drawn from the border line
of the Carian ranges and the foot of the northern slopes of the
Lycian Taurus.
The sound establishment of Great Britain's commercial
influence in this locality dates from the year 1856, when con-
struction on the Aidin railway was inaugurated. Its real
beginning can be traced back to the dawn of the nineteenth
century, when English naval supremacy replaced France's
hitherto paramount maritime influence in the Levant. In recent
years an interesting expansion of British trade ascendancy in
"Hogarth: The Nearer East, New York, 1902, p. 33.
256 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
this zone can be detected since the products of the area tapped
by the Aidin railway, whether they consist of cereals, fruit,
ores or local manufactured goods such as rugs, are mainly
exported nowadays to Great Britain, the United States and
Australia.
Throughout history the valley of the Meander has constituted
a region in which natural features of the surface have been
eminently favorable to man's development. In addition to the
wealth of its natural resources it is provided with a deeply
indented coast line, in which commodious natural harbors occur.
Here is found the maximum density of population for the entire
peninsula — 70 inhabitants to the square mile." "Within this
restricted area G-reek injfluence first took root about 2,600 years
ago before spreading throughout Asia Minor. The origin of this
movement must be ascribed to the local advantages which
invited human activity by the display of favorable regional
features. It is safe to surmise that the same geographical
agencies have been again responsible for the striking parallel
afforded by the first establishment within contemporary times of
a sphere of western influence in the region.
Italy's connection with Turkish railroads has consisted in
providing labor and in laying claim to franchises in southern
Asia Minor. These claims are of recent date, and have been put
forth since the occupation of the islands of the Dodecanesia by
Italian troops. Specifically the claim is made for the right to
buUd a railroad from Adalia northwards to Burdur. The region
to be tapped by this line is a strip of broken lowland intervening
between the Lycian and CUician Taurus. The valleys of the
Aksu and Keuprusu, bordering the east and west slopes of the
Ovajik massif, join in forming a deltaic area in which sub-
tropical cultures, rice, cotton and tobacco thrive. Plains and
wide valleys, which are probably ancient lakebeds, occur between
the smaller ranges of the zone. They contain arable lands which
might be turned to account were the region more thickly settled.
A number of smaller rivers discharge their contents into the gulf
•Hogarth: op. cit., p. 155.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 257
of Adalia. The giilf itself is shallow, devoid of harbors, and open to
southerly winds. Lack of natural harbors and remoteness from
the main highways of the peninsula have contributed to the
sphere's isolation. It is still imperfectly known through a few
roiite surveys and occasional descriptions.
The most important road in Turkey is the partially completed
trunk line running diagonally across Asia Minor and beyond into
Mesopotamia. The line is German-owned, although French and
English capital is represented. The concession for the first
stretch, extending from Constantinople to Konia, had been
granted to German and Austrian railroad builders in 1888. The
celebrated Bagdad railroad is the prolongation of this line. Its
construction was turned over to German promoters by a firman
(decree) dated January 21, 1902. The financial burden of the
enterprise was estimated at about $200,000,000.
The Bagdad railroad is the final link of the shortest overland
route between Europe and Asia. In the minds of Germans it is
destined to compete with the sea-way controlled by England. The
road was conceived in order to connect Teutonic centers of
industry and Asiatic markets. The speediest sea route between
Europe and Asia passes through straits guarded by British
sentinels. As long as Gibraltar, Suez and Aden form part of
Great Britain's colonial domain, they can be closed at will to
competitors of British manufacturers.
The great trade routes which link Europe to Asia have
always crossed Turkish territory. One of the most widely
traveled of these highways formerly connected the classic shores
of Ionia to the fever-laden coast of the Persian Gulf. It was
the road to India. The spices, gems and silk of the East reached
European buyers by way of this trunk land route. For countless
centuries caravans have plied back and forth over the barren
plateau of Asia Minor and the sweeping plains of the Mesopo-
tamian depression. This traffic is still maintained although it is
now much on the wane. Long files of camels proceeding leisurely
at a swinging gait are met occasionally by the traveler in
Anatolia. A patient ass leads the way as of old. The turbaned
258 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
driver plods along unmindful of the historical associations
accumulated over his path. He knows however that the steam
engine, devised by western ingenuity, is about to deprive him of
the scanty pittance which his journeys yield.
Germany is essentially a land power. It was natural that the
country should seek to establish land routes over which its con-
trol would prove as effective as England's oversea highways.
With this aim in view, the German government lent unreserved
support to German captains of industry striving to obtain sole
mastery of the great Turkish trunk line. Asia, teeming with
thickly populated districts, lay at hand. Britain's unrivaled sea
power afforded its people adequate transportation to these
centers of consumption. The Germans realized that a land
power could not compete successfully with rulers of the waves.
They resolved to acquire commercial supremacy in Asia by the
creation of a land route. The Bagdad railroad is the outcome
of this realization.
The road starts at Konia at the southeastern terminal of the
Anatolian railroad, also a German line, whose tracks reach the
Asiatic suburbs of Constantinople. Konia lies in the very heart
of the Anatolian plateau, a stern and melancholy land, destitute
of trees and sparsely peopled. Here at an average elevation of
2,500 feet above sea-level, the tracks are laid over the ancient
highway which leads to Syria. In spite of its mournful scenery,
the region is a veritable paradise to the archeologist. It is
studded with prehistoric ruins and contains secrets of Hittite
history which await the scholar's investigation. Here and there
along the line the dilapidated remnant of a Seljuk building
reminds the traveler of the peculiar charm of Mohammedan art.
Beyond the plateau the road plunges into a tangled moun-
tainous district known as the Taurus. The famous Cilician Gates
are the only practicable gap provided by nature among bold and
abrupt peaks in this region. The armies of Pagan, Christian and
Mohammedan monarchs have marched through this gorge in the
long struggle between the East and the West which enlivens
the history of the ancient East. Cyrus with his retinue of
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 259
Persian lords and Ms bands of Greek soldiers found it a con-
venient opening. Alexander tlie Great stepped between its
narrow walls on his way to conquer tbe world. Detachments of
Crusaders under Tancred and Baldwin bore the banners of the
cross through the rugged pass. Later Mongolian hordes sang of
loot as they swarmed through the mountain cut.
Unfortunately the ride through this mountain section of the
Bagdad line will not be made uninterruptedly in broad daylight.
The engineering problems involved are of considerable magni-
tude. The mountain can be conquered only by means of tunnels
and the cost of this method of advance is naturally enormous.
It has been estimated at a minimum of $140,000 per mile. In
addition to tunnels considerable stretches of very heavy earth-
work are required. If the undertaking delights the engineer's
heart, it is on the other hand apt to dismay the capitalist.
The drive through the Taurus does not end the difficulties of
construction. This mountain is succeeded immediately by the
equally lofty and precipitous Amanus range. Another arduous
tunneling section is encountered. Of the two the last is the most
difficult and costly. An idea of the heavy expense incurred in
this construction work is conveyed by the cost of the wagon
road built to reach the mouth of the first tunnel. It has been
estimated that over one million dollars have been spent in this
preliminary work.
The descent towards the Cilician plain is steep. To the west
Tarsus, the birthplace of the Apostle Paul, looms a blot of white
over the grayish green of the surrounding land. The change
from the dreary scenery of the plateau is a delight to the eye.
The valleys leading to the Mediterranean coast are wooded.
Vegetation soon assumes a southern aspect of luxuriance. The
sensation of finding oneself in an altogether different country is
especially felt on hearing the sonorous accents of Arabic now
spoken in place of Turkish.
From the site of the Amanus tunnels to Aleppo the line was
completely built in 1915. Thence it strikes eastward only to turn
south after reaching the Euphrates river. From here on to
260 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Bagdad trains will run through the great alluvial flood plains of
Mesopotamia. This is a rainless district. The present large
cities, Mosul, Bagdad and Basra, have no important share in
world affairs in comparison with the political and cultural influ-
ences which radiated far outward from the precincts of ancient
Nineveh and Babylon.
Between Konia and Bagdad the railroad is 1,029 miles long.
For convenience of operation it is divided into sections of
approximately 130 miles in length or more correctly of 200
kilometers. Construction on the first section was begun shortly
after the award of the concession. This portion of the road was
opened to traffic in 1904. Building was abandoned until 1910
owing to lack of funds. In May of that year operations were
resumed at different points of the line. By the middle of 1913
about 400 miles had been completed.
Since the beginning of the European war, construction has
been pushed with increasing speed. In northern Mesopotamia
the construction of a bridge over the Euphrates at Jerabluz
allows the laying of tracks with a fair degree of rapidity in the
northern stretches of the Syrian desert. Work was also under-
taken at Bagdad in a northerly direction. In the last days of
1914 trains were running regularly in the valley of the Tigris
between this city and Samarra. Since then, according to reports,
the tracks have advanced farther north.
Work on the sections in northern Mesopotamia does not pre-
sent great difficulties. There is reason to believe that construc-
tion here proceeded with feverish haste during the European
war. The main obstacles to rapid track-laying are found in the
mountainous district which intervenes between the Anatolian
plateau and the plains of Syria and Mesopotamia. According to
reports the tunnels in the Amanus mountains were driven from
end to end by the summer of 1915. It will probably take longer
to complete construction through the mountainous wall which
connects the Chakra valley to the Tarsus river in the Cilician
Taurus. This section of the road is only 22 miles long. It
crosses however an extremely rugged district and requires four
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 261
separate tunnels wMcli together measure some lOJ miles. In
May, 1914, three tunnels had been started and the ground cleared
at the approach of the fourth.
A number of branch lines are included in the concession of
the Bagdad railroad. The products of some of Turkey's most
promising districts will pass over their tracks toward the trunk
line, thence to be jfinally transported overland through the Balkan
peninsula and Austria to German manufacturing centers. A side
line projected to extend northeast of Aleppo will tap eventually
an exceedingly rich mineral belt situated at the northern con-
vergence of the Tigris and Euphrates. In this district the
celebrated copper mines of Argana are found. They are worked
in desultory fashion by the Turkish government. In spite of
crude methods of extraction and long camel-back hauls the ore
is of sufficiently high grade character to yield ample returns.
Silver, lead, coal and iron also exist in the same zone of
mineralization.
An important branch connecting the trunk line with the
Mediterranean at Alexandretta has been in operation since 1913.
The line is only about fifty miles in length and traverses the
heart of a rich orange-growing district. The northern track of
this branch crosses the plain of Issus where Alexander battled
against Darius. At about six miles from its southern terminal
the line hugs Mediterranean waters and crosses the spot where,
according to statements of the natives, the whale relieved itself
of the indigestible burden of the prophet Jonah.
In central Mesopotamia, branch lines extending in easterly
directions will tap rich oil-fields and may eventually provide
connection with future trans-Persian railroads. The history of
this Mesopotamian region abounds in stirring chapters. The
most favored section is found in the narrow neck of land extend-
ing for a short distance at the convergence of the courses of the
Tigris and Euphrates. This site was marked by nature for the
heart of great empires. After the fall of Babylon, the neigh-
boring cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon became in turn the
capitals of Greek emperors and of Parthian and Sassanid
262 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
sovereigns. Here Bagdad, rich in human history, grew to world
fame. The farms and palm groves surrounding the city spread
on the east and west until they almost reached the banks of the
rivers which carried life and fertility in their waters. At the
time of Arab prosperity Bagdad was one of the most magnificent
cities of the Mohammedan world. As a center of Mussulman
art the city had no peer. The Turkish conquest, which swept
light a blight over the land, put an end to the city's pros-
perity.
In modern times, Persians and Turks have vied with each
other to retain possession of the land. Bagdad then became the
center of the struggles waged between Caliphs and Imams. The
conflict which splits Islam into the two rival camps of Sunnis and
Shiites revolved around the city. The mausoleums and mosques
which annually attract thousands of pilgrims are the sanctuaries
in which upholders of the divergent beliefs elbow each other
oftener than in any other Mohammedan city.
Should the Bagdad railroad be destined to remain German
property the line is bound to become the backbone of German
supremacy in western Asia. Germania, helmeted and carrying
sword and shield, will ride over its rails to conquer Palestine and
to wrest the wealth of the Nile and Ganges from British grip.
But the foreign interests of every European nation are affected
by the construction of this celebrated railway. It is the most
direct route to Asia for all of Europe. The question of its
internationalization is therefore one of the problems of European
diplomacy.
The extensive zone traversed by this railway comprises the
fertile and well settled valleys of the Sakaria and the Pursak,
practically the whole of the interior plateau to the foot of its
surrounding mountains and the eastern section of the Mesopo-
tamian valley. Within this belt the most populous inland towns
of the peninsula succeed each other at regular intervals. This
circumstance indicates their former importance as stages on the
long journey between the Bosporus and the Persian Gulf.
Casual inspection of their crowded bazars would dispel doubt on
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 263
this score. Attention must be called here to the geographical
significance of these bazars in the Orient. Every urban center
is provided with one. It is usually a roofed inclosure within
which the city's business is carried on. Caravans proceeding
from remote sections of the continent have their rendezvous
outside their gates. The siae of these bazars and the activity
displayed in each is the measure of an eastern city's intercourse
with the rest of the world. In the geographer's mind their
significance is the same as that of railroad stations.
By acquiring this trunk line the Germans succeeded in taking
a first mortgage on Turkey. It was the first signal success of
the policy of directing Teutonic ambitions into eastern channels
which Bismarck had adopted immediately after the consohdation
of the German Empire. He had a vision of an aU-German line
of traffic starting at Hamburg and crossing the Bosporus
towards the Far East. In one direction German calculations mis-
carried. Germany was unable to finance the undertaking without
the support of British and Trench capitalists. The international
character of the line became more and more pronounced between
the years 1908 and 1911. During this period a number of agree-
ments were signed between Great Britain, France, Germany and
Turkey in which a notable percentage of German interests passed
over to the two rival countries, the Germans emerging out of
the transaction with a bare control.
The project of an all-German route received another setback
when England was awarded the final section of the Bagdad line.
This successful stroke of British diplomacy consolidated British
influence in the Persian Gulf. Koweit and the environing dis-
tricts ruled by petty Arabian chiefs became British protectorates
and the long-planned German through line merely butted against
a solid wall raised by British ability.
The French have invested twice as much capital as the
English in Turkish railroads. The lines they manage and OAvn
directly are the Syrian railroads and the Smyrna-Kassaba line.
They are also interested in the construction of roads in the north-
eastern districts of the country where concessions have been
264. FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
awarded to Eussians. Muscovite inability to provide capital is
responsible for the transfer of the building and operating grants
to Frenchmen.
The sphere of French influence comprising the Gediz valley
and its adjacent territory to the Sea of Marmora lies entirely out
of the beaten track of intercontinental travel. Its economic
prosperity is therefore governed by purely regional influences.
The valley of the Grediz river itself compares in fertility with
that of its southern consort, the Meander. Tracts of arable land
in its northern area and the occurrence of extensive mineral
deposits, a few of which are among the most heavily exploited
in Asia Minor, combined with genial climate and the accident of
position which places the zone directly opposite the European
mainland, all tend to impart elements of economic significance
which have allured French enterprise.
As has been shown already, the zone of paramount French
influence in Asiatic Turkey lies, south of Asia Minor, in
Syria. "La France du Levant" is a term which is not uncom-
monly applied by Frenchmen to this Turkish province. The
origin of this intercourse may be traced to the trade relations
between Gaul and Syria in the fourth century b.c. During
antiquity a widely traveled road, albeit of lesser importance than
the peninsular highway of Anatolia, connected the Mediterranean
and the Persian Gulf. This route started from Egypt and Syrian
harbors and skirted the western and northern edges of the
Arabian desert before assuming a southerly strike which led it
through the Mesopotamian basin. The populous cities of
Damascus, Horns, Hama and Aleppo lie on this ancient avenue
of trade. Here, as in the case of the Anatolian cities mentioned,
their present population is altogether out of proportion to their
resources or activity. It can only be regarded as a sign of the
importance they once had as stages in this southern east-west
route. The Syrian littoral, described by Hogarth as the garden
of Arabia," must be regarded therefore as an intermediate
region connecting Asia and the country lying west of its Mediter-
" Op. cit., p. 194.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 265
ranean border. This influence of location prevailed throughout
history.
The conquest of Syria by Frankish Crusaders gave renewed
impetus to commercial relations between Syria and France. A
regular trade route between Marseilles and Syrian ports was
established. The treaty of alliance between the Sultan of Turkey
and the King of France the first half of the sixteenth century
contributed to bind this province more firmly to France. At the
end of the seventeenth century French trading-centers had been
established in all the important cities of Syria. Napoleon's
invasion of this province as a result of the Egyptian campaign
and French intervention in the Lebanon in 1859 likewise increased
French prestige in the region. The confinement of this western
hold to Syria can be ascribed to the influence exerted by the
boundaries of the province. It forms with Palestine an excellent
type of regional unit consisting of an elongated mountainous
strip barely 50 miles wide. With the Mediterranean on the west,
and deserts on the south and east, its only outlet to the world
lay on the north.
French builders first undertook to connect the province of
Lebanon with the sea by constructing the Beirut-Damascus line.
The tracks were subsequently extended to Aleppo, a city whose
greatness was founded on its situation along the natural road
which connects the Mediterranean with the Persian Gulf. As a
raUroad center Aleppo's future looms bright, for the city lies
also in the path of the tracks which will connect the Black Sea
with the Mediterranean.
In southern Syria, the outlook for French enterprise was
dimmed for a few years by the construction of a Turkish line
from Damascus southwards. Branch lines were carried to the
sea. Harbor concessions, however, were granted to French firms.
French interests thus retained a notable share of the control over
the traffic in and out of Syria. Furthermore, a concession for a
line from Rayak to connect with the Jaffa-Jerusalem road which
they obtained in 1914 will enable them to compete with the
Hejaz line.
266 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The last railroad agreement between the French and Turkish
governments was signed on April 9, 1914. Concessions on the
part of the Turkish government are bestowed in return for
French financial support. The lines granted will tap northern
Anatolia and Armenia. Connection with the German lines will
be made at Boli and at Argana. The area tributary to this line
contains fertile plains and plateaus. It is known to be rich in
mines, notably in copper. The advent of the railroad will
undoubtedly brighten the outlook of the Turkish mining industry.
In southern Arabia a railroad concession was awarded tO'
French promoters in 1908. The line was to connect the seaport
of Hodeida with Sana 'a. It was intended to divert into Turkish
territory the large trade with the interior which now passes
through Aden. Strategic reasons also weighed heavily in the
decision to build this road. At no time have the Arabs of the
Yemen shown sympathy for their Turkish rulers. Every com-
mander sent to quell their incessant rebellions ascribed his
failure to lack of transportation facilities. It was mainly in
view of this condition that steps were taken to connect this
section of the Arabian table-land with the sea.
The Franco-Eussian sphere is the outcome of privileges
originally conceded to Russia by Turkey. The terms of the
agreement under discussion call for the construction of railroad
lines as follows: The trunk line is to start at Samsoun and to
end at Sivas." A westerly branch line will diverge from Tokat
towards Yozgat without reaching this city, however, or extending
beyond the divide between the Yechil and Kizil rivers. A second
branch will start at Tokat and reach Erzindjian, whence it will
be turned northwards to Trebizond. Beyond Sivas the line will
be extended to Kharpout and the vicinity of the important
Argana copper mine. Connection with the Bagdad railway will
be made beyond this point. Finally an important branch
will leave the trunk line at Kazva to extend to Kastamuni and
Boli.
The zone defined by these projected lines covers the greater
^^ Asie Franoaise, Oct. 1913, p. 402.
The American Geographical Society of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, PI. VI
EXTENSION OF
HEJAZ LINE
TOWARD MECCA
Scale 1 : 15 000 000
20 10
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 267
part of northern Asia Minor, It forms a region in which relief
and the rigor of the climate have retarded the development of
the population.^^ These geographical disadvantages are com-
pensated by ample natural resources. The eastern section is
known to contain a rich copper belt which bids fair to become
the site of a thriving industry. The deltaic strips and river
valleys will permit extensive tobacco culture and fruit raising.
The passing of this zone under the sphere of western influence
is a mere result of Eussia's constant endeavor to obtain a coast
line which will not be closed to navigation during the winter.
The only line owned by the Turks in their country is the
narrow-gauge railway known as the Hejaz line which starts from
Damascus and is intended to reach the holy town of Mecca. The
financing of this line has been unparalleled in the annals of rail-
road building. Ostensibly the purpose of the construction was
to provide traveling conveniences to 250,000 pilgrims who, it is
estimated, came annually from all parts of the Mohammedan
world to worship at the Kaaba. In the belief of many, the line
was built for strategical reasons and to enforce Turkish sov-
ereignty among the Arabs, who have always been loath to admit
the Sultan's claims to the Caliphate.
The funds for the construction and equipment of the road
were obtained by appealing to the religious feelings of the
230,000,000 Mohammedans scattered in widely separated regions
of the globe. Stress was laid on the pious character of the
undertaking. According to reports, $14,000,000 were collected
soon after the enterprise was launched. Thereafter about
$12,000,000 were contributed annually for several years. The
operation involved no responsibility to the promoters, headed
by Abdul Hamid, the former Sultan of Turkey, all the funds
being bestowed in the form of donations. The road has thus no
shareholders and no bonded indebtedness, its capital being spon-
taneously wiped off.
The religious character of the undertaking is apparent in the
mosque-wagon attached to each train. Seen from the outside,
^"Hogarth: op. cit., p. 244.
268 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the prayer carriage is distinguished only by means of a diminu-
tive minaret six and a half feet high. The interior is fitted out
according to religious custom with rugs on the floor and framed
Koranic verses in letters of gold on the walls. The direction of
Mecca is indicated by a map at the end of the car, so as to enable
the faithful to orient themselves properly when engaged in
prayer.
A hopeful view of the future of Turkey's economic position
may be entertained by remembering that the land is still unex-
ploited and that the resources of its soil and subsoil await the
handling of western energy. It is expected that as fine a cereal
crop as can be obtained anywhere in the world will be raised in
the region between Eskishehir, Angora and Konia. Five million
dollars spent by Germans on irrigation at Chumra in the
vicinity of the last-named city has proved conclusively that a
thriving agricultural industry can be established on the interior
plateau of Asia Minor. The Cilician plain, where cotton and
cereals are cultivated, contains vast tracts of swamp land which
can be reclaimed. Here, too, irrigation would greatly improve
cotton culture. Many of these rich soils are parts of Turkish
crownlands which have been estimated by some to amount to one-
tenth of the entire area of Turkey. The lands owned by the
Evkaf, or Ministry of Religious Foundations, also cover vast
areas. Estates held under either of these forms of tenure can
be rendered highly productive under western management. The
southernmost end of the Bagdad line taps rich oil fields which
are situated in the area of transition between the plateau of Iran
and the Mesopotamian depression. The railroad traverses the
western end of this oil basin. Its eastern section in Persia has
been developed since 1908 by British firms.
The international control of Turkish railroads reflects the
transitional character of the land over which they are built.
Ownership in Turkish lines is of practically no value to so back-
ward a people as the Turks have proved themselves to be. It
is of vital importance to the industrial communities of the coun-
tries which hold the extremities of the roads of which the Turkish
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CASE OF TURKEY 269
system is but a link. Germany, Austria and France at the
western extremity of the transcontinental line, Great Britain in
India at its eastern end, have interests which affect a large
proportion of their population. In the west the great through
line starts in some of the busiest industrial centers of the world.
In the east it taps coveted markets. The attention of European
manufacturers is directed towards densely populated India or
China simply because profitable trade is found where numbers
exist.
A comprehensive glance at the spheres of foreign influence in
Turkey shows that the most satisfactory evidence of the control
of geography over the development of railway zones and spheres
of foreign influence in Asia Minor is obtained by mere reference
to the regions in which adverse geographical conditions prevail.
The Italian and Russian spheres are both characterized by
physical and climatic conditions which have stood in the way of
human development. The map reveals the absence of railways
in both.
In the more favored zones western influences are shown by
the presence of modern surface features. Striking examples of
German enterprise can be observed along their extensive sphere
of action. Grain warehouses at Polatli on the Angora line receive
the crops of the environing country. In the plains of Konia
canals and locks of varying dimensions have been built and the
former swampy area is fast becoming a heavy producer of
wheat. Farther south near Adana over 200,000 acres have been
reclaimed mainly for cotton growing. In this district important
harbor works have been undertaken at Alexandretta which it is
planned to make both the outlet of all southern Asia Minor and
the terminal of the sea route from Europe to the east.
Similarly French influence in Syria is observable in the
macadamized highways of the Lebanon no less than in the
development of a thriving silk industry. In the British zone of
the Meander valley mines have been opened up by British capital.
Along with this economic progress education is also advancing.
Numerous European and American schools were in existence in
270 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Asiatic Turkey prior to th.e European war. The mere presence
of European employees of tlie railroads in the Anatolian towns
is enough to infuse new thoughts into the minds of the inhabi-
tants. ■ On the whole the locomotive is performing its civilizing
work and Asia Minor is gradually becoming Europeanized.
Summing up we find that we have dealt with a connecting
region which may justly be considered as the classical type in
geography. A land which by its position was everyman's land,
and which, because of its geography, was of greater interest to
the outsider than to its own inhabitants. Being a part of three
continents it became part of the life which flourished in each.
A nation formed on such a site belongs more to its neighbors
than to itself. In this respect its future will resemble its past.
CHAPTER XII
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY
The peoples and ideas emanating from within the realm which
still bears the name of Turkey have left an indelible mark on
the rest of the world. Crossed by some of the great highroads
of history, the land is inspiring in every aspect in which it is
regarded. Its heritage of memories and the prestige of a happier
and grander past are undisturbed by marks of decadence. Most
of the foundations of our progressive spirit were laid in that
eastern region. From a purely scientific standpoint, its human
grouping and surface configuration present highly interesting
interdependence.
The region is divisible into six major geographical sections.
Each forms a background against which distinct types of the
human family are displayed. The various groups differ from
one another in religion and language, often even in race. A
fringe of fresh and verdant coastland which surrounds the
elevated shelf of Asia Minor is largely Greek and Christian. The
only foothold which western thought, art or temper ever obtained
in Asiatic Turkey is found within this wave-washed strip of
land. The plateau-heart of Anatolia is predominantly Turkish
and Mohammedan. The Christian element scattered on its
steppe-like surface is unable to assert itself and yields to
Oriental ascendancy. The high and broad mountain masses
which border it on the east are the home of the Armenoids,
generally Christians, sometimes Mohammedans, but almost always
characterized by broad-headedness accompanied by a peculiar
flattening of the back of the skull. Beyond this mountain barrier
Asiatic Turkey becomes entirely Semitic, being mainly Arabian
in speech and overwhelmingly Mohammedan in creed. Three
main regions characterize this southern area. The long and
271
272 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
narrow corridor of Syria became the highway which in antiquity
bound the flourishing empires of the Nile basin to the powerful
kingdoms of the Hittite highlands and the Mesopotamian low-
lands. Its motley population, containing representatives of
every race, is a relic of former to-and-fro human displacements
along its trough-like extension. In the adjoining desert Bedouin
tribes find their favorite tramping ground. The twin valley of
Mesopotamia is the home of peoples in whom -fusion of Semitic
and Indo-European elements is observable.
The history of this land is that of its invaders. Successive
streams of humanity poured into it from four superabundant
reservoirs. Its central mountain zone was the motherland of a
virile race whose sons went forth at intervals to breathe vitality
into gentler populations scattered between the ^gean coast and
the valleys of the Nile and Mesopotamia. Armenians and a
number of Mohammedan sects represent today this Alpine race.
Mediterranean men proceeded constantly from the south and
west to new homes in the pleasant valleys that connected eastern
JEgean shores with the interior table-land. Mobile Semitic hosts
abandoned the plateau of inner Arabia before the time of our
earliest records and drifted naturally northwards towards the
fertile Tigris-Euphrates basin or the commercial routes of
Syria. Finally a Turki element, lured out of its mountain cradle
in the Altai by scattered grass lands extending westwards,
swarmed in successive hordes into Asia Minor and even beyond,
well into the heart of Europe.
In addition to the foregoing fundamental wanderings, the
inflow of an Iranian element, composed of men of Aryan speech,
may be observed. This contingent marched out of the plateau
of Iran and reached the Turkish highland without having to
scale its slopes. As a result of this migration Persian words
permeate Armenian ^ extensively. The Turks also have appro-
priated a certain amount of Persian words and culture from the
^ Fully one-third of Armenian consists of words of Persian stock. Some Armenian
philologists point to the existence of a small remnant of highly ancient words which
cannot be traced to Aryan forms and which probably represent the survival of a
language indigenous to the Armenian highlands.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 273
same source. Racially, however, the eastern element was absorbed
by the Armenoid population.
The present inhabitants of the diversified domains of the
Sultans have been welded by the run of history into a shadowy
political unity which has failed to harmonize their incompatibili-
ties of origin and ideals. Turkey is a thoroughly theocratic
state. Its sovereign-caliph and his subjects have always consid-
ered it their most important mission to bripg Islam to the
infidel. So great is the hold of ideals over the human mind,
however, that the non-Mohammedan populations have clung pas-
sionately to their religious beliefs. "We are forced to seek in
creed the main distinguishing traits which, outwardly at least,
divide the inhabitants of Turkey into groups of different names.
We shall see, however, that in the minds of many of them,
language or historical traditions have little significance. At the
same time it is believed that distinctions of a more fundamental
character will be brought out in the course of this chapter.
The Greeks
Our knowledge of the first appearance of Greeks in Asia
Minor has undergone radical revision in recent years. Their
prehistoric culture can be traced as far back as the Neolithic.
The chief interest of modern discovery centers around the now
accepted fact that Greek culture originally invaded the region
from the south and that the Indo-European element which
brought Aryan speech to the land is a later wave which flooded
the original Mediterranean stock at some time during the transi-
tion from the Age of Bronze to that of Iron.^ The southwestern
coast was first colonized. A northerly extension occurred thence
and proceeded mainly along the coast.'
The sequence of geological events preceding man's appear-
ance upon the ^gean coast of Asia had imparted features
which were destined to favor human development to an excep-
•H. R. Hall: The Ancient History of the Near Bast, London, 1913, pp. 31-79.
" R. Dussaud : Les civilisations prfihglleniques dans le bassin de la Mer EgSe,
Paris, 1914, pp. 414-455.
274 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
tional degree. A land-bridge connecting the Balkan and Anatolian
peninsulas occupied the site of the -^gean Sea at the dawn of
quaternary times. The subsidence of the land during this period
was accompanied by heavy fracturing trending in east-west
lines. The ^gean archipelago, studded with islands and sur-
rounded by deeply indented coasts, conveys a vivid picture, on
the map, of the crustal deformity which occurred.
Climate also conferred its share of advantages. The long and
narrow valleys are sheltered by mountains on all sides except to
seaward. Northerly air currents cannot reach them. Frosts or
snows are therefore unusual.* The course of moisture-laden
winds blowing landward from the seas that wash the three coasts
of Asia Minor is arrested by the mountainous rim of the
peninsula. Precipitation is almost entirely expended upon the
narrow shore lands. Copious rainfall and flowing rivers thus
provide this historic Anatolian fringe with patches of luxuriant
vegetation and green valleys. The interior plateau, on the other
hand, remains parched and barren during the summer months.
A splendid stage for Greek history was thus built during the
prehuman period. Early Mediterranean oncomers discovered
sheltered havens and fertile inlets along the entire development
of the fancifully dissected coast. A natural festoon of outlying
islands increased their security by providing them with advanced
posts for the detection of hostile raids. Erosion along the
parallel lines of east-west rifts had carved fair valleys in which
the winding rivers of classical literature found a channel. But
above all, the sea contributed commerce and cosmopolitanism,
both great elements of world power. These in turn favored the
growth of tolerance, — a trait which has ever marked the western
mind and which, at that particular spot, was to constitute a
bastion destined to remain impregnable to the opposing spirit of
the east.^
Intermediate site, low relief above sea level and genial, climate
* D. G. Hogarth: The Nearer East, New York, 1902, p. 102.
°D. G. Hogarth: Ionia and the Near East, Oxford, 1909; J. L. Myres: Greek
Lands and the Greek People, Oxford, 1910.
The American Geographical Sociefy of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, PI. VII
SM i-DCf> S BLACK
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 275
combined to give tlie Greeks a full share of the joy of life. These
are the physical elements upon which the striking cultural
superiority of Hellenism is founded and without the concourse
of which it has never set permanent foot anywhere. The brilliant
florescence of Greek civilization in pagan time attained its
apogee wherever these three geographical factors prevailed. The
Byzantine Empire succumbed before eastern onslaught because it
was gradually converted into an Asiatic state and thus exceeded
the boundaries marked by nature for Greek humanity.
The sixth century of the pagan era was the Golden Age of
Hellenism in Asia Minor. The elongated seaward valleys became
the seat of flourishing and independent nations. A strong demo-
cratic spirit prevailed among their inhabitants. City states or
self-governing communities were numerous. Their merchant
princes drew on the vast eastern rearland for supplies which they
sold to Europe. They also collected heavy tolls from freight
going eastwards. A double stream of wealth thus flowed into
their treasuries. The prosperity of this period has never since
been paralleled in the region.
Creative art found a home upon a site so eminently favored
by nature. The heart and mind of its inhabitants throbbed
responsively to the stirring events which were the result of their
country's situation at the junction of the most important sea and
land highways of the then known world. There the antagonism
between east and west, out of which so much world history has
been made, broke into violent clashes after periods of commercial
interchange. Talent was spurred to high achievement under the
stimulus of foreign contact, wealthy patronage and genial
environment. Imposing ruins and prolific discoveries of master-
pieces of art convey ample testimony of nature's concentrated
prodigality on this famous coastland.
The present Greek occupants of the Anatolian shores reflect
the pleasant character of their environment in the lightness of
heart which is one of their distinguishing characteristics. Their
craving for gaiety, society and enjoyment is unfailing. Even the
gloom of Asiatic dominion does not prevent merrymaking at
276 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
every opportunity. In these respects the Greeks share to an
eminent degree the feelings of the nations of the western world.
With the exception perhaps of the Circassians, the Greeks are
the handsomest of the inhabitants of Asiatic Turkey. Classical
forms of the head and of the general cast of countenance are met
in every nook of the Anatolian seaboard. Their profiles are
those of the gently curving lines of ancient Greek statues and
medals. Among women graceful carriage of the head and neck
adds to their charm. The men are erect and firm of gait.
Fishing and sailoring are the hereditary occupations of the
coastal Greek populations of Asia Minor. Inland they become
traders. The "corner" grocery or the village butcher shop is
generally owned by a Greek. In recent years the Greek has
learned to play the part of the promoter in the growing develop-
ment of Asia Minor. He is often the middleman who brings
western capital to eastern opportunity. Herein his role differs
but slightly from that of his Lydian or Carian ancestors.
The true Greek is met only as far inland as a whiff of the
salt sea air can be inhaled. Eastward, on the Anatolian table-
land, Greek communities of the ancient Phrygian and Cappa-
docian lands differ from kindred coastal populations as widely
as the fascinating greenswards of the one vary from the semi-
arid steppe of the other. Once beyond the range of maritime
influences, Greeks often forget their own language and adopt
Turkish instead. This is frequently the case in many of the
inland settlements where Turkish is now the only medium of oral
expression for Christian thought.' EaciaUy, too, the Greeks of
the inland towns and villages betray Alpine or Armenoid origin
rather than Mediterranean descent. Short stature, ample chest
development and broad-headedness are conspicuous among them.
The rock-hewn villages south of Mt. Argaeus afford a clue to the
origin and antiquity of these mountain Greeks.^ They are
descendants of the natives who were conquered by the armies
* In many of these Anatolian conmmnities Greek is written with Turkish characters.
'G. de Jerphanion: La rfigion d'Urgub (Cappadoce), La G6ogr., Vol. 30, No. 1,
July 15, 1914, pp. 1-11.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 277
of Greek pagan states or by Byzantine troops. The conquerors
brought language and culture to the upland populations but were
numerically insufficient to impose a new racial stratum. Later
the wave of Turkish invasion drove out Greek and forced Asiatic
speech on the same mountain populations without always replac-
ing Christianity by Mohammedanism.
Duality of language is sometimes accompanied by a strange
duality of creed among Anatolian Greeks. At Jevizlik, on the
road between Trebizond and Gumushchane, dwell crypto-Christian
Greeks who publicly profess Mohammedanism while maintaining
in secret the Greek orthodox faith.' The inauguration of a con-
stitutional form of government in 1908, with its promise of
religious liberty, gave the members of the community an oppor-
tunity to renounce their outward form of faith and proclaim
complete adherence to the religion they had never really for-
saken.
To the philologist these ancient Greek communities are veri-
table treasure grounds, especially when found in mountainous
districts. Archaic forms of speech are in current use among
their inhabitants. In many, the purity of the ancient Greek
dialects of Asia Minor has been preserved with but slight con-
tamination from later literary influences. The very names of
those who speak these vernaculars show interesting connection
with the classical period of Hellenism. Socrates or Pericles will
cook daily for the traveler, and Themistocles supply him with
tobacco. More than that, they all make themselves intelligible
in the style — and the spirit, too — of inscriptional language. But
the old Hellenic dialects should not be confused with the still
unknown Lycian, Lydian and Carian languages found in inscrip-
tions. There is reason to believe that these primitive speeches
of the Anatolian plateau represent exceedingly early stages in
the development of Indo-European forms.
Many of the Greek communities owe their survival to the
proficiency of their members in a particular industry. The
settlements of Greek miners scattered in the Pontic and Tauric
* In the Levant they are called Mezzo-Mezzos.
278 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
milling districts are instances in point. The Turkish conquest of
the Byzantine Empire was accomplished by Asiatic barbarians
who knew how to fight but included no artisans in their ranks.
They were therefore obliged to rely upon the populations of the
conquered lands for the maintenance of industrial and commer-
cial activity. This notorious incompetence of the Turk for any
pursuit other than that of soldiering is, at bottom, the prime
cause of the survival of Christian communities within Ottoman
boundaries.
The Tueks
The appearance and establishment of the Turks in a land
which was not that of their origin follows their life as nomad
tribesmen of the vast steppeland of central Asia. They were
men at large upon the world's largest continent, the northerners
of the east who naturally and unconsciously went forth in quest
of the greater comforts afforded by southern regions. The
flatlands which gave birth to their race lie open to the frozen
gales of the north. Their continental climate, icy cold or burning
hot in turn, is cut off from the tempering influences prevailing
behind the folds of tertiary mountain piles to the south. As the
steppemen migrated southward their gradually swelling numbers
imparted density to the mass they formed because expansion on
the east or west was denied them. China and the Chinese,
admirably sheltered by barriers of deserts and mountains,
stopped their easterly extension. Christian Eussia stopped them
on the west, though at a heavy cost to herself, for no obstacle
had been raised by nature to meet their advance. The open plain
of central Asia merges insensibly into that of north Europe.
That is why incidentally Eussia is half Tatar today. The
Asiatic was forced upon her. She sacrificed herself by absorbing
him into her bosom, saving Europe thereby from this eastern
scourge, but forfeiting the advantages of progress.
Cut off from east and west in this manner, the only alterna-
tive left to the Turk was to scale the plateau region of western
Asia and to swarm into the avenues that led him to conquered
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 279
territory where he succeeded in attaining power and organizing,
his undisciplined hosts into the semblance of a state. The
presence of the Turk upon the land to which he conferred his
Mongolian name and the very foundation of the Turkish state
can in this manner be attributed to outward causes rather than
to local development. It was essentially a process of trans-
plantation. The consolidation and rise to power of the Ottoman
Empire between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries were
largely due to foreign conditions, for during that interval Europe
was busily engaged in extirpating feudalism and the objection-
able phases of medieval clerical influences from its soil.
The Turks and their name were first known to the western
world in the sixth century of our era. But their invasion of
Asia Minor should rather be considered as a gradual infiltration
begun in prehistoric times. Hittite carvings represent, among
others, a recognizable Mongoloid type of Tatar soldiers who
fought as allies of the great mountain state.' Pig-tails, high
cheek-bones and oblique eyes have been conspicuously modeled
by the sculptor. Tatar migrations are thus discerned in the
morning of the history of Asia Minor. The early invaders were
steadily reinforced from the east by their kinsmen. The rise
of the Seljuk Turks to dominance was the explosion of energy
accumulated in the course of the centuries in which this move-
ment of Altaic tribes had persisted. The consolidation of
Ottoman power marked its culmination. A single tribe could
never have acquired sufficient strength to establish a mighty
empire had not its ranks been swollen by members of kindred
■ groups encountered during its migration. This is what actually
happened when Jenghiz Khan and Timur appeared on the stage
of history. Turkish accounts describe both as fiery leaders, men
who could command the adherence of the vast swarm of descend-
ants of their kinsmen, in whose footsteps they marched. Sultan
Osman, the founder of the present Turkish dynasty and reputed
to be of the same caliber, likewise drew on a human legacy of
centuries for the accomplishment of his designs.
•J. Garstang: The Land of the Hittites, London, 1910, p. 318.
280 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Unfortimately, the Turks bear a name which, is utterly void
of significance. They themselves apply it to every Mohammedan
inhabitant of Asia Minor without discrimination of race or
origin. But for fully eight centuries they have stocked their
harems with women seized from conquered populations. It is no
exaggeration to say that this human tax has been levied on
almost every family of the Caucasus, western Asia and the
countries of the Balkan peninsula. Today the net result of this
variegated intermixture is that the Tatar origin of the average
Turk, so called, is entirely concealed by the mingling with Medi-
terranean, Armenoid-Alpine and even Nordic elements. Except
in a few isolated instances the Turki type of central Asia is
rarely met within Turkish boundaries. Clearly no valid claim
to racial distinctiveness can be set up by the Turks.
In religion the Turk is no innovator. He has merely taken
unto himself the idealism of Arabia. And yet his efficient wield
of the fine edge of Mohammedan fanaticism failed to sever the
ties which bind Islam to this land. Even his language is not his
own. The splendor of Arabian syntax and the supple elegance
of Persian style alone confer literary flavor upon it. Over 70
per cent of the words in Turkish are Arabic retained in unalloyed
purity. A scant sprinkling of Tatar words merely recalls by
their sound the raucous articulations which form the nomad's
speech, while their paucity is a true measure of the limited range
of concepts which find lodgment in his mind.
Turkish nationality is equally meaningless. The descendants
of Asiatic nomads became masters of western Asia without ever
conferring the boon of government or of nationality upon the
land and its peoples. In Gibbon's mordant words "the camp
and not the soil is the country of the genuine Tatar." And
Turkey is still a vast field in which the Turk has pitched his tent
and merely waits, knowing that the day is not far off when he
will have to break camp and seek new pasturages for his herds
and flocks. But the site on which he has settled for the past five
centuries had been the seat of a highly organized government.
Seeing himself master of this estate the Turk unhesitatingly
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 281
adopted its institutions. Thus, under the mantle of Islamic
theocracy, Byzantine government and customs have continued to
flourish in Ottoman dominions. Barring special features belong-
ing to Mohammedanism, the ceremonials of the Sultan's court
may be traced, step by step, to Byzantine forms. The very
absolutism of the caliphs is alien to the fundamentally demo-
cratic character of both Tatar societies and Koranic teaching.
It is Byzantine and a relic of the despotism of the Eoman
Caesars.
In speaking of the Turks it is necessary to carry two distract
types in mind. The pure Tatar vagrant, true to his native
indolence, which unfits him for sedentary occupation, is in the
minority. The mass of the Turkish population consists of a
mixed element in which the racial strain of given localities per-
sists along with characteristics imparted by fusion with Turki
conquerors. This mingling is indicated further by the spirit
which moves this people in the performance of their daily tasks.
Its members are recruited among the plodding, gentle-manuered
and kind-hearted peasants of the land. Local influence accounts
for these qualities. Occasionally, however, the foreign strain wiU
crop out. Then, like their nomad ancestors, who, from peaceful
shepherds roaming leisurely from patch to patch of green, are
transformed into fiends incarnate by the approach of a thief or
a beast of prey, or whom a passing storm will throw into
fits of uncontrollable rage which vents itself in passionate out-
bursts of shrieking and gesticulation, the Turkish peasants can
cast their natural softness of character to the winds and become
either bloodthirsty murderers smiting unarmed Christians or else
heroes performing gallant deeds on the battlefield.
The majority of this Turkish population finds a congenial
home on the Anatolian upland. Their ancestors beheld here an
environment in which the physical characteristics of the plateaus
of central Asia were reproduced. They took to it naturally.
The table-land is a rolling expanse mournfully devoid of vegeta-
tion, save for rare clusters of stunted trees. Scanty plots of
grass, surrounding sickly pools or streams, resemble holes in a
282 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
ragged garment spread over its surface. Sun-baked in summer,
cMUed in winter, with a climate too deficient in moisture for
the favorable development of human societies, the land could
only appeal to Asiatic sons of semi-arid areas. In recent years,
the tendency of Turks to retire to this region is observable
wherever the industry of Christian populations of the encircling
coastland has rendered life too arduous for Turkish love of
ease.
The penetration of this table-land by nomads from the heart
of Asia goes on today as in the past, albeit with abated intensity.
It is no rare occurrence in Asia Minor to meet Tatars or
Turkomans who have been on a slow westerly march for periods
of from five to ten years at a time. Most of them come from
the Kirghiz steppes. A vague desire to change their residence
from a Christian to a Mohammedan country impels their wan-
derings, according to their own accounts. Constantinople looms
as an objective nebulously impressed in their minds. But the
goal is rarely attained. In reality their migration is as uncon-
scious as that of their forefathers and merely carries them out
of sheer necessity from pasturage to pasturage in the manner
it affected former generations.
Mohammedan Immigrants
Ever since the establishment of Turkish authority in western
Asia the policy of the Sultan's officials has been directed towards
attracting Mohammedan settlers from foreign countries to the
unpopulated districts of Turkey. Particularly at the end of
unsuccessful wars, special efforts are made to induce Moslem
inhabitants of lost provinces to return within Turkish bound-
aries, where land often exempt from taxation is assigned to them.
Widely distributed Circassian, Tatar and Turkoman settlements
owe their origin to this Turkish method of increasing the
Mohammedan element in the country. The Bithynian peninsula,
where Cretaceous limestones and sandy Eocene beds provide
excellent soils, is a region favored by immigrants.
Eussia's southwesterly spread of empire is responsible for
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 283
the movement of some 500,000 Circassians from the Caucasus
highlands to Asiatic Turkey. Lithe of figure, brilliant-eyed and
nimble in mind, these immigrants are morally and physically far
superior to their new countrymen. They bring with them the
higher standard of living of their native land. Their dwellings
are more solidly built than the customary shanties or hovels of
the Anatolian table-land, and their food is of the average
European quality. Wherever settled, they live in a degree of
<3omfort unknown to the Turkish peasant. Flourishing farming
communities have grown up around their villages. In dties they
are distinguished by a natural aptitude for commerce, and many
an able government official has been recruited from their
numbers.
In race, language and religion the Circassians of Turkey present,
according to tribal origin, the confusion existing in their cradle
land. The Kabardian group of the Uzun Yaila are of western
Caucasus extraction and speak an incorporative language. The
Chechen settled in Syria are derived from Daghestani highlanders.
In some cases Circassians bear Christian names, but worship in
mosques. Eepresentatives of central Asiatic, European and even
Semitic races are found among them.
A colony of Noghai Tatar refugees was founded in the lower
Jeihun valley after the Crimean War, at which time it consisted
of some 60,000 individuals. Their numbers were speedily
reduced, however, by the malaria and fevers of the unhealthful
Cilician coast land. A decimated remnant is now engaged in
farming the marshy lands originally bestowed on their fathers.
They maintain excellent relations with the Turks, with whom they
intermarry.
The Turkomans of Asia Minor are, according to their state-
ments, refugees from Muscovite Christianity. In reality they
seek escape from Eussian pressure exerted to force them to
abandon nomadism. This name is applied generally to immi-
grants coming from Turkestan who preserved their roving
habits. The cruel Turki type of lineament and expression is
observable on their faces. They are Sunnis, or orthodox Moham-
284< FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
medans, and a TurMsh-speaking people, but have little inter-
course with native Turks.
The Karapapaks, or Black Caps, known also by the name of
Terekimans, are Shiites, or adherents of the eastern branch of
Mohammedanism, from Russian Armenia, who have crossed the
Turkish frontier and settled near Patnoz in the Van vilayet. The
original seat of this people is between Chaldir and Daghestan.
Eacially they are of Turki stock. Tatar types predominate
among them, although Circassian and Persian physiognomies are
by no means uncommon.
The Lazis of northeastermnost Turkey, who are sometimes
known by the name Tchan, form the connecting link between the
Caucasian and Anatolian populations. Many of them have for-
saken their Eussian homes in the past thirty years for the land
of their kinsmen on the Turkish side of the frontier. They
occupy, in fairly dense communities, villages nestling on the
forested seaward slopes of the Pontic Alps, as well as the narrow
strip of coast east of Platana. Former generations looked on
them as pirates or brigands. They now follow less irregular
pursuits, but still bear the reputation of being daring smugglers.
The Turkish navy recruits sailors from among them.
By race the Lazis are allied to the Georgian group of Cau-
casus peoples, and their intermixture with ancient Armenian
populations is probable. Their adherence to Mohammedanism is
lax. They speak a southern dialect of the Grusinian language
closely allied to Mingrelian but mingled with Greek and Turkish
words. In some localities Turkish entirely replaces their ver-
nacular. The limits of their language in Turkey coincide with
the western boundary of the sanjak of Lazistan. They extend
thence eastward, in a belt fringing the southern base of the
Caucasus, aU the way between the Black and Caspian seas."
" Many Moslem immigrants from eastern Europe are also found in Asia Minor.
Bosnians, Albanians, Pomaks and, in general, members of every Mohammedan com-
munity in the Balkan peninsula consider Asia Minor as a favorable land in which to
settle.
t^'''
Fig. 59.
IMC. (Id.
Fig. .'iO — " Tiirkisli " r-i-owd in an Anatolian fity (Ti-i'liizfiml i . A gatlierinij in
tlioe Tnrki^-li i-itit's rcintain^ rf]irr.-.e;itativfs of aliin>st I'vci'v rai'c i}i tlii' wdiiil.
Fig 111! — -A gruup i.if ^Marnnito «(imen. Tlit'ii ^t^ll■lly ajiiiuarance suggests tlicir
higliland origin.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 285
Mohammedan Dissenters
A number of communities whose origin is wrapped in
obscurity are found off well-beaten avenues on the Anatolian
table-land. A mild, temperate lot, broad-shouldered and open-
faced, they have much in common, in spite of diversity of worship
and isolation. Eacially they present few of the Turki features.
Their speech is usually Turkish, but they keep rigidly apart from
the Turks. They are Mohammedans in name only. Having
secured immunity from the fanaticism of the masters of the land,
they have secretly maintained ancestral beliefs to 'their full
extent. When the light of ethnographic research shall have
been fully shed on their rites, it is likely that the tran-
sition of religious thought from the paganism of Hellenic
times to the Christianity of the Byzantine era will be made
clear. *
To this group belong the inhospitable Tahtajis (known also
as Chepmi and, in their westernmost extension in the Aidin
vilayet, as AUevis), who are the woodcutters of the upper
recesses of the Lycian mountains. A people of almost primitive
manners, they form a community of about 5,000 souls. Eastern
and western culture swept by their mountain homes, leaving the
faintest of traces among them. Having neither priests nor
churches they are held iu disrepute by the Turks. Similarity
with eastern religions can nevertheless be traced in their wor-
ship. They wail over the corpses of their dead as do the
Egyptians. A vague connection with Iranian ideas is discernible
ia the belief they hold regarding the incarnation of the devil in
the form of a peacock. They cannot be induced to discuss their
rites with strangers. In their simple minds faith is all in all,
and well accentuates the separatist tendency determined by their
rugged mountains.
A more important group, the Kizilbash, present racial char-
acteristics peculiar to the Nordic race, although they too have
mingled extensively with the Armenoid natives of the Anatolian
mountains over which their settlements are scattered. The name
286 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
is pure Turkish for "red head," but cannot be traced to head-
gear in Turkey. In Persia however allied communities are known
whose members wear scarlet caps. The bends of the Kizil
Irmak ^^ and of the Yechil Irmak contain their villages." They
also have settlements in the highlands which extend from the
Taurus to Upper Mesopotamia.
A Turkish-speaking people of peaceful habits, engaged exclu-
.sively in the tillage of their lands, submissive to authority,
frugal and industrious, such are the Kizilbash in the midst of
their Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian neighbors. They are
usually on excellent terms with the Christians. But to this day,
after centuries of occupation of the valleys of the Sakaria and
Halys, they have remained as foreigners among the Turks who
colonized their territory long after them. Probably on account
of religious divergences the newcomers have always held them
in contempt.
It is not unlikely that the Kizilbash are lineal descendants of
the Galatae of Asia Minor. This western people entered the
peninsula through the notch cut by the valley of the Sakaria —
an avenue also chosen by the Phrygians sung by Homer. Later
the Cimmerians also followed the same route. All these inva-
sions from the west brought blondness into Turkey — though not
of the pure Nordic type, for the roads leading out of northern
Europe had their longest stretches in the brunet territory of
central and southern Europe. Nevertheless mingling incurred in
the course of migration, as well as after settlement, has not
obliterated entirely the fair ancestral type. The strongest argu-
ment in favor of the relationship between the Galatae and the
KazUbash lies in the identity of the territory occupied by both
peoples. The racial distinction between the two lies in the
greater admixture of Tatar blood in the Kizilbash of our times.
Oradual change of the Galatian of European provenience into
"E. Leonhard: Paphlagonia, Berlin, 1915, pp. 359-373; J. W. Crowfoot: Survivals
among the Kappadokian Kizilbash (Bektash), Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Vol. 30, 1900,
pp. 305-320.
^^ The distribution of Kizilbash villages in the Yechil Irmak valley is shown in
<J. de Jerphanion's Carte du Bassin du Yfichil Irmak, 1:200,000, Paris, 1914.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 287
the Kizilbash type of Asiatic affinity was accompanied by the
replacement of Celtic by Tatar culture.
Gralates to the Greeks meant any western barbarian. The
term was applied to the foreigners whose coming was always
marked by destruction and who, in the third and second cen-
turies B.C., terrorized Thrace before crossing into Asia Minor.
Here they introduced Celtic forms of speech which were current
in their settlements as late as the fourth century of our era. At
that time the language spoken in parts of Anatolia was similar
to the dialect of the Traveri, a Celtic tribe on the Moselle whose
name has been perpetuated in that of the city of Treves."
Arrian, a native of Bithynia, describing the customs of the Celts
gives accounts of usages, such as the worship of the oak, which
prevailed in his country and which on investigation are found to
have their counterparts in Europe.
In religious thought, the Kizilbash may be classed as the most
liberal among the Mohammedans of Turkey. Their interpreta-
tion of the Koran exempts them from keeping fasts and allows
them the use of wine. They permit their women to go about
with a freedom which has never been tolerated among Sunnis.
Christian rites, such as the custom of praying over bread and
wine, are performed among them. Fragmentary survivals of
pagan observances likewise form part of their worship.
The Kizilbash are closely affiliated with the Bektash confra-
ternity, a once powerful Islamic organization which still owns
a large number of convents (tekkes) and churches in Turkey.
Indiscriminate use of the two names has led to much confusion
in the writings of travelers. It seems preferable to restrict
the name of Kizilbash to the group of Anatolian people whose
mountain origin is amply proven by somatic traits and whose
cultural development denotes amalgamation with invaders of the
table-land. The term Bektash can then be applied to the form of
religion to which this people adheres at present. The connection
is probably founded on the ease with which Bektash proselytism
"J. G. Frazer: The Golden Bough, the Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings,
London, 1911, Vol. 2, p. 126, footnote 2.
288 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
drew recruits from among Kizilbash populations. In the light
of this distinction the so-called Bektash people of the Lycian
mountains are merely a sub-group of the Kizilbash, to whom they
are related in part by race, language and religion.
The Balikis, or Belekis, living on the southern fringe of
Sasun," are probably also a remnant of the old highland popu-
lation. The Mohammedanism they profess is tainted with dim
reminiscences of Christian worship and was probably adopted as
a self-preservatory measure. Religious beliefs weigh lightly
however on this community. Its members possess neither church
nor mosque. A term of residence among them would probably
enable an observer to discover survival of very ancient customs.
The passing traveler can do little more than note the unusual
freedom with which their women go about unveiled or note the
mixture of Arabic, Kurdish and Armenian words in their
language.
The Avshars, descended from Persian immigrants mingled
with native hill populations, are settled mainly on the eastern
slopes of the Anti-Taurus facing the northern end of the
Binbogha range." The two elements which are blended in this
people are also represented in their religion. The newcomers
brought Shiite Mohammedanism and insured the predominance
of their views over the relics of the nature cults of the aboriginal
groups. Traces of Christian influence are observable in their
daily life. Around Cesarea these Avshars give the shape of a
cross to the loaves of unleavened bread they bake. In view of
the deep-rooted aversion of Mohammedans towards any trace of
Christian symbolism, it is evident that we are here in the pres-
ence of an old-established usage rather than one adopted in
post-Mohammedan times. But in speech, custom and occupation
the community differs in no respect from neighboring Turks.
The nomad element of the Anatolian plateau is represented
mainly by the Yuruks, whose wanderings range from the northern
landward slopes of the Cilician Taurus to the mountainous tract
"H. F. B. Lynch: Armenia, London, 1901, Vol. 2, p. 430.
^"Earl Percy: Highlands of Asiatic Turkey, London, 1901, pp. 89-90.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 289
surrounding Mt. Olympus. They are divided into tribes of
varying size, some not exceeding twenty tents. Their number is
estimated at about 200,000. Koving over barren districts, the
members of this group are half-starved human products bred in
areas of defective food supply. The men know no other occupa-
tion than that of tending their sheep and horses. The women
are noted carpet-weavers. Strangers passing within sight of
their tent settlements can generally rely on finding the nomad's
proverbial hospitality under their felt roofs.
In common with kindred plateau communities, the Yuruks
hold severely aloof from the Turks. But they have adopted
Turkish speech, and it is gradually replacing their ancient ver-
nacular. They have sometimes been connected with European
gipsies, although the little that is known concerning their history
and traditions hardly warrants such an assumption. A promis-
ing field for ethnographic research still awaits exploitation
among their settlements. They call themselves Mohammedans
and circumcise, but have no priests or churches.^^
The Aptals of the lofty valleys of northern Syria also have
nomadic habits and appear to be closely related to the gipsies.
Although they claim to be Sunnis they rarely intermarry with
settled Mohammedans. Their roaming life carries them from
village to village, generally in the capacity of musicians and
entertainers. According to their traditions they were expelled
from the lower Tigris regions in the ninth century."
The Aemenians
The table-land on which Armenian life unfolded itself was
faulted into blocks and covered by flows of huge volcanoes after
the Miocene. Pontic ranges fringe it on the north and thereby
forbid access to the Black Sea.^* On the south, the folds of the
Anti-Taurus mountains likewise act as successive barriers. But
^° C. Wilson: Handbook for Travelers in Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Persia, etc.,
London, 1911, p. 68.
" The gipsies of Syria are known by the name of Nawar, or Zotts.
" Cf. inset on accompanying map entitled " Part of Asiatic Turkey showing Dis-
tribution of Peoples."
290 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
no mountain obstacles intervene to the east or west of Armenia.
Close racial, linguistic and historical relations can therefore be
traced between Armenians and Persians today. Furthermore,
the existence of important Armenian communities scattered all
the way west of Armenia to the coasts of the ^gesm becomes
intelligible. The very crowning of Armenians as Byzantine
emperors may ultimately be explained by this east-west extension
of relief in western Asia.
I The heart of the Armenian plateau is found in the gently
folded limestones and lacustrine deposits surrounding Lake Van.
Here an elevated plain relieves the ruggedness of environing
peaks. Here, too, our earliest knowledge of Armenian history is
centered. But the formation of nationality upon the surrounding
sites of intricate relief was a long-drawn process. A highland
dissected into numerous valleys could not become the seat of a
united people. The region, being broken up, favored division.
Accordingly feudalism flourished undisturbed throughout its
extent. Each valley or habitable stretch was governed by its
own princeling. These petty chiefs relied on the security provided
by their rugged environment and were naturally disinclined to
acknowledge authority emanating from outside their valley
homes.
The plain of Van has always loomed large in the history of
Armenia. This interesting depression occupies the southeastern
corner of the great central plateau and lies surrounded by
volcanoes which were centers of lively eruptive activity during
the Pleistocene. Together with the plain of Mush it forms a
single basin which was once a lake bed. The heavily saline
waters of Lake Van still cover its deepest section. The exposed
lake bottom consists of volcanic matter carrying fertilizers in
abundance. Eich brown loams contributed to the region's famed
fertility. Between the tenth and ninth centuries b.c. the Vannic
community became the nucleus of a confederacy of mountain
tribes forming the kingdom of Urartu," which extended to the
" The Mexican parallel is too striking to be omitted here. The southern end of
the plateau of Anahuao, on which the waters of Lake Texcuco receded within historical
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 291
heads of the valleys debouching on Assyrian territory.==° After
successful resistance against Assyria the independence of the
Armenian state became well established about 800 b.o.
The ancient history of the Armenians is closely related to that
of the Hittites. The appearance of the former is coeval with
the disappearance of the latter. The probability of a common
origin is strong. Enough light has been shed on the history of
the Armenian table-land prior to 700 e.g. to enable us to divide
its political subdivisions into two great groups. The Vannic
states of the kingdom of Urartu held sway in the northern
ranges. Hittite dominance extended to the southern group of
mountains. It may be assumed that the Armenians of the
present day are direct descendants of these ancient populations,
due allowance being made for the invasion of Iranian peoples
who brought eastern culture to the land. The free inflow of this
eastern element was impeded, however, by the highly dissected
table-land of Armenia. It trickled westward without ever assum-
ing the proportion of a flood. Hence the Armenian physical type
is preserved with considerable purity beneath the shroud of
Aryan culture.
The Armenians call themselves Hai and trace their descent
to a mythical mountain chief Haik. Hai-istan is the name of
their native land in Armenian. The word Armenia itself is of
Persian derivation and foreign to Armenian. A remote possi-
bility of the connection of Hai with the old name Hit or Hatti
may be advanced in view of the frequency with which the elision
of the letter t and the replacement of d-t sounds by y occur in
Armenian.^^ The etymology of the name, however, stUl awaits
more thorough elucidation.
Although the relation between the Hittite and Armenian
times, is the center of the stage of Mexican history. Surrounding this open land
numerous narrow valleys were peopled by independent tribes which eventually banded
together under the leadership of the community living near the central body of water.
This lake confederacy became Cortez's most powerful opponent when the conquistadores
imdertook their memorable expedition. Cf. F. J. Payne: History of the New World
Called America, Oxford, 1899, pp. 450-463.
" D. G. Hogarth: The Ancient East, New York, 1914, p. 74.
" Notably t is entirely eliminated from the third person singular.
292 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
languages yet remains to be determined, and the secrets of the
old Vannic language are not fully revealed, enough is known to
prove Armenian an Aryan infiltration from the west. Herodotus
refers to them in a natural manner as the ^pvywv anomoi (VII,
73), "Phrygian colonists." It is significant to note that this
Greek appellation was bestowed on the Armenians at a time
when western Asia was better known to the civilized countries
of the world than it is at present. Modern research, however,
places the inhabitants of the plateau of Anatolia and of the
Armenian mountain land in the same racial type.
Planted squarely on the scene of the secular conflict between
the civilization of Europe and Asia, Armenia became the prey
of the victor of the moment. But the united influence of site and
configuration was more than once during this long struggle
strong enough to confer independence on the Armenian. As a
buffer between eastern and western empires the country enjoyed
three distinct periods of native rule prior to the Ottoman
conquest.
Throughout these vicissitudes, Armenian life centered mainly
around its mountain home. Nevertheless, altitude alone does not
suffice to explain the characteristics of the people. Climate must
also be taken into account. Armenians are distributed in a belt
extending one degree on either side of the line of north latitude
39°. Within this zone the products of the soil as well as the
customs are those of temperate regions bordering on the warm.
The narrow highland valleys are wonderfully fertile. Wheat is
harvested before July at an elevation of 3,600 feet in many dis-
tricts. The country enjoys fame for the variety and excellence
of its fruits.
Little wonder, then, that traits which distinguish populations
reared in suimy lands should also prevail among the dwellers of
this rugged mountain zone. Voluble in the extreme, endowed
with a highly developed imaginative sense and with an innate
tendency to aggrandize and glorify the facts of ordinary life, the
Armenian is often an eastern counterpart of the celebrated
Tarasconese created by Daudet's genial fancy.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 293
But a rocky environment is equally reflected in the minds of
the Armenians. Harshness of manner and a certain degree of
uncouthness are present along with tenacity of purpose and
moral fortitude. Through the latter, endurance of Turkish per-
seQution, which has generally assumed exceedingly savage form,
was made possible. Armenians are also known for their martial
spirit. Dwellers of many of the less accessible recesses of the
Tauric or Armenian highlands held their Turkish foes in check
for centuries and managed to maintain a state of semi-inde-
pendence in their conqueror's land untU confronted by modern
artillery.
Again, the influence of the mountain home of the Armenians
is expressed in their art. Poems and songs often extol the
fairness of the valleys where rest will be found after descent
along interminable slopes. Sometimes the beauty of lakes,
embosomed in high plateaus, fires the poet's fancy. Towering
summits figure in legend as steeples from which melodious
chimes send forth their tones. Armenian music, too, resounds
with echoes that seem to reverberate from valleys cut deep in
the sides of their mountains.
Perhaps it is these varied influences which convert the rough
and mannerless mountain b.oors into the most polished and cul-
tured citizens of Turkish cities. Armenians have the reputation
of being energetic business men. Their honesty was proverbial
among the Turks, who generally intrusted the management of
estates or domains to their hands. Among them alone throughout
the inland districts of Asiatic Turkey, western progress found
receptive minds.
The size of the Armenian population of Asiatic Turkey has
never been accurately determined. The inaccuracy of Turkish
statistics is notorious. Furthermore the boundaries of Turkish
administrative provinces have been drawn with the sole view of
creating groups in which the Mohammedan element would pre-
dominate. The estimate of 2,100,000 Armenians for Asiatic
Turkey given by so reputable a writer as Major-General Sir
294 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Charles Wilson" is undoubtedly high. Cuinet's figures given by
Selenoy and Seidlitz" probably come nearer the truth. The
wholesale massacre of Armenian males which has been system-
atically conducted by the Turks for the past twenty years and
which culminated in the massacres and deportations of the past
two years, makes it improbable that over 1,000,000 Turkish
Armenians stUl live. Prior to the European war, the only dis-
tricts of any size in which they constituted a majority of the
population were found west of Nimrud Dagh in the plains sur-
rounding Mush as well as in the Kozan district north of the
Cilician plains.^*
The Kxjeds
An Alpine zone of transition connecting the plains of northern
Mesopotamia with the surrounding mountains on the north and
east became the homeland of the Kurds. In a broad sense it -
is the drainage area of the Tigris and Euphrates. It is also the
site of important mountain gaps through which human move-
ments from east to west or vice versa have proceeded. Before
the consolidation of Turkish authority in this region, a matter of
less than a century ago and still in an imperfect stage of com-
pletion, Kurdish clans, each under the sole leadership of their
respective chieftains, controlled the pass through which traffic
from the southern lowlands or the eastern plateau was directed
" Handbook for Travelers in Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Persia, etc., London,
1911, p. 75.
" Petermanns Mitt., Vol. 42, Jan. 1896, p. 8; and for details V. Cuinet: La
Turquie d'Asie, Paris, 1891-94, Vols. 1-4.
'* The Armenian population of Turkey is divided by creed into three distinct com-
munities. The vast majority — probably about ninety per cent — ^belong to the Gregorian
sect of Christianity. Adherents of the Roman Catholic faith are found chiefly ia
western Asia Minor. Protestant congregations have sprung up around the educational
institutions maintained by British or American missionary societies. Let it be noted
here that many Mohammedan communities in Armenia consist of Armenoid individuals
whose membership in the fold of Islam is the result of forcible conversions since the
rise of Ottoman power. The Dersimlis, who inhabit the region between the two main
branches of the Euphrates, have the reputation of being crypto-Christians of Armenian
blood. Moslems of Armenian origin are also known in the village of Karageben on
the Tehalta river east of Divrik. In Eussia the Armenians number a scant million
souls. Half of this community is scattered in the valley of the Arax and in the
Brivan province.
The American Geographical Sociefy of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, PL VIII
DISTRIBUTION
OF
ARMENIANS
IN TURKISH ARMENIA
' (After Supaih, based, on Cuinet,
Selenoy and v. SeydUlz.)
SNYDER K BLACK, N.I
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 295
towards the Anatolian table-land. They exacted heavy tolls from
passing caravans and derived their chief source of revenue from
these levies.
Their manner of living conforms with the intermediary
character of their habitat. The semi-nomads of the plains and
southern hills seek cool uplands during the summer months. In
winter they descend to the warm plains with their flocks and
herds and mingle with their Arab neighbors. Their instinct
for seasonal migrations has been developed to such an extent
that they cannot refrain from maintaining their semi-annual
movements in the Armenian districts to which they have been
forcibly removed by the Turkish government, desirous of insur-
ing Mohammedan predominance in the Christian valleys of
Armenia.
Language and religion carry the Kurds back to eastern
ancestry. However diverse their dialects, Aryan roots forming
the framework of their speech have survived in spite of the
admixture of Turkish and Arabian words. By creed they are
generally upholders of Shiite tradition in its westernmost con-
fines. But their religious views vary from tribe to tribe and
present as composite a character as their race. Many are
Sunnis. Wandering into eastern Asia Minor since hoary
antiquity they have culled from Paganism, Christianity and
Islamism alike. The predominance of the ideals which inspire
these faiths among the individual clans probably affords a clue
to the period of their arrival in the localities which they now
inhabit.
Similarly, the racial relation of the Kurds with peoples found
east of their land is well established.^" They undoubtedly belong
to the European family, though perhaps not in the sense sug-
gested by von Luschan, who would connect them with inhabitants
of northern Europe. From the writer's own observations the
"generally blue eyes and fair hair" are by no means dominant
in the regiments of Hamidyeh cavalry recruited exclusively from
" F. von Luschan: The Early Inhabitants of Western Asia, Ann. Kept. Smith-
sonian Inst, for 1914, pp. 561-562.
296 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONAIJTY
among Kurdish tribesmen.-" The three groups studied by the
eminent anthropologist near Karakush, on the Nimrud mountain,
and at Sinjirli were probably remarkably pure, as might be inferred
from the nature of their secluded districts. As early invaders of
a transition land the Kurds have intermingled extensively with
both highland and lowland populations." The Kurd varies
therefore according to region, the inhabitants of the elevated
sections being stocky and of massive build, while the tall and
sallow Semitic type appears among those on the southern
plains.^^
The Kurds, particularly in the semi-nomadic state, are noted
freebooters. Travel in the districts they occupy is generally
unsafe. Armenians and other Christians find them an inexorable
foe. They are none too loath to prey even on Turks, although as
a rule the latter obtain immunity in return for the lenient dealing
of the government in cases of Kurdish depredations on non-
Moslem communities. The strong arm of an organized police
alone will end the lawlessness with which their name is coupled
in Turkey.
Good qualities are not wanting among them. A Kurd is gen-
erally true to his word. The rude code of honor in vogue among
their tribes is rarely violated, and, whenever disposed, the Kurd
can become as hospitable as his Arab neighbors. The tempering
influence of a settled existence among sedentary tribes is marked
by harmonious intercourse with surrounding non-Kurdish com-
munities. At bottom their vices are chiefly those of the restless
life they lead in a land in which organized government has been
unknown for the past eight centuries.
The Syrians
Syria is the elongated land passage, barely fifty miles in
width, which connects northern Africa with western Asia. It is
26 it ■]
' " Rarely of unusual stature . . . complexion dark " is Wilson's description.
Handbook for Travelers in Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Persia, etc., London, 1911, p. 64.
^' Mark Sykes: The Kurdish Tribes of the Ottoman Empire, Journ. Anthrop. Inst.,
Vol. 38, 1908, pp. 451-486.
'° B. Dickson: Journeys in Kurdistan, Geogr. Journ., Vol. 35, No. 4, April 1910,
p. 361.
Fig. 62 — A Kni-tli>h villa;,'e in I'pptT il&sopotamia witli cliaractci'istic stone
sliaiities peculiar to bemi-aiid regions.
Fig. 03 — A harvest scene in Upper Mesopotamia \vitli Kurds at work.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 297
one of the world's best-defined natural regions. The sea on the
west, and the desert on the east, sharply mark off its fringe-like
extension. On the north the Amanus ranges constitute a wall
that has proved well-nigh impassable to Semites. To the south
the land naturally ends in the Sinai peninsula.^"
The province is mountainous in its northern half. Its moun-
tains are the monuments that throw light on the utter failure of
the cause of human progress in northern Syria. A single
redeeming feature, the Orontes river valley, favored foreign
contact. At its mouth on the Mediterranean western ideas
filtered into the land Avhile a blend of eastern influences, Persian
and Arabian, flowed down ^^ith its waters. All converged at
Antioch, the region's greatest center of life and a true product
of the Orontes' lower course. Absence of relief in southern
Syria, however, was coupled to a Mediterranean climate and
fertile soils. These permitted the development of the flourishing
civilizations of antiquity. Herein lies the physical basis of the
historical evolution of the Syrian fringe and the explantion of
the groAvth of nations and of world rehgions in its southern
lands.
As a land-bridge of early humanity Syria was necessarily the
scene of much coming and going at a time when the civilization
of the world was largely confined to what is now known as
Asiatic Turkey. Its population therefore presents a mixed
character. Hittites, Arameans, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks,
Eomans, Arabs and Turks conquered the land in turn and
imparted their native customs to its inhabitants. The inhabitants
of its southern area are now transformed almost beyond the
possibility of analysis. The settlements of the elevated and
broken northern area, on the other hand, represent very ancient
communities.
The mountains of Syria harbor strange denizens in their
northern end. In the northern Lebanon many villages of the
western slopes are inhabited by the Metauilehs, who are Shiite
"De Torcy: Notes aur la Syrie, La GSogr., Vol. 27, No. 3, March 15, 1913, pp.
161-197; No. 6, June 15, 1913, pp. 429-459.
298 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
dissenters and bear unenviable reputation for ignorance and
inhospitality.'* Their own traditions point to Persian or Arabian
origins. Eeligion seems to confirm the former claim. At the
same time they are known to the Syrians as a sturdy mountain
people. Scattered through the same mountain districts the
Ismailyehs, another highland folk who under the name of Assas-
sins enjoyed sinister fame during the Middle Ages, maintain
their abode in inaccessible valleys. The epithet which is coupled
to their name is an altogether illogical rendering of the Arabic
"hasheeshin" and does not convey any worse meaning than that
of "hasheesh" fiends. They live mainly in groups around old
Saracen castles.
The Ansahiyehs
The Ansariyehs, or Nusariyehs, form an important group
among northern Syrians. Their settlements are generally con-
fined to the grassy seaward slopes of the mountains stretching
north of the Nahr-el-Kebir towards the Gulf of Alexandretta.
They also occupy villages in the plains surrounding Antioch. In
recent years they have shown a tendency to abandon their moun-
tain homes for the less arduous life of the plains. Officially they
are regarded as Mohammedans and bear Mohammedan names,
but the religion which differentiates them from the other inhabi-
tants of northern Syria teaches Christian and Sabean doctrines
alike. It is believed that they still maintain observances of
exceedingly ancient nature cults. The fundamental principles of
their creed are transmitted by word of mouth and with injunction
to secrecy." Their deification of the conception of fertility is
couched in highly metaphorical language in which the produc-
tivity of the earth and of the human race is extolled. By making
proper allowance for the imagery which clothes the wording of
their prayers it will probably be found that their religion
resolves itself into a relic of the worship of the mother-goddess
" L. Gaston Leary: Syria, the Land of Lebanon, New York, 1913, p. 10.
•»E. Dussaud: Lea NoBsairis, BiU. de I'Ecole des Hautes :6tudes, Sciences, Philoso-
phie et Histoire, Paris, 1900, Vol. 129.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 299
which was deeply rooted throughout the mountain districts of
Asia Minor. Hints of nocturnal orgies accompanying their
worship should be taken with a grain of suspicion, as orthodox
Mohammedans are prone to such imputations whenever dissen-
sion from the Koran is suspected. In this Mohammedans merely
follow the lead of Byzantine Christians in whose eyes the relics
of Anatolian paganism were as obnoxious as the heresies of their
own times.
The ancestors of the Ansariyehs and other small sects in
northern Syria were closely related to their powerful Hittite
neighbors. These peoples all occupy, together with the Druzes
and Maronites, the southern limit of known Hittite monuments.'^
Their land is the frontier zone between Syria, Asia Minor and
the Armenian highland. It is studded with ruined strongholds
which figured prominently in ancient battle.
The Dbuzes
The southern Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges in the rear-
land of the Haifa-Beirut coast ^' are inhabited by Druzes.
Tribes of this people are met as far southeast as the Hawran
volcanic uplift, whither they have steadily emigrated from the
Lebanon in the course of the past hundred years and where they
have succeeded in dislodging the former Bedouin inhabitants.
These Druzes are best known for their warlike disposition.
Although numerically inferior to the Christian population of
their native districts, their bellicose qualities have won them
predominance in central Syria. In religion they are pure mono-
theists. Their standard of morality is high. They call them-
selves Mohammedans but do not maintain mosques and rarely
practise polygamy. Orthodox Moslems generally repudiate them
on account of the discrepancy between their teachings and the
tenets of the Koran. As far as can be determined the doctrines
"J. Garstang: The Land of the Hittites, London, 1910, pp. 15, 16.
" About forty toTVTis and villages are held by the Druzes in the southern Lebanon.
In the Anti-Lebanon districts they people eighty villages and share possession of about
two hundred with their Christian kinsmen, the Maronites.
300 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of the Mosaic law, the Gospels, the Koran and Sufi allegories
are represented in their creed. Often when with Christians they
will not hesitate to assert helief in Christianity. The leaven of
Iranian influences which pervades their doctrines estranges them
from the surrounding Semitism just as their highland home
separates them from the plainsmen settled around them. The
dominance of this eastern strain in their thoughts does not, how-
ever, necessarily indicate racial migrations. Historical testi-
mony is available to prove that the known form of Druze religion
can be traced to the teachings of Hamze, a Persian disciple of
Hakem.'* The case is more probably that of an infiltration of
foreign ideals and its retention within a region deprived by its
relief from intercourse with the more progressive life of the
surrounding lowland.
The Maeonites
Closely related to the Druzes are their northwestern neigh-
bors, the Maronites, a Christian people, who seceded from the
Roman Church in the great schism that followed the council of
Chalcedon in 451 a.d.^^ They form a compact mass settled on the
western slopes of the Lebanon mountains between the valleys of
the Nahr-el-Kebir and the Nahr-el-Barid. Mountain isolation
and intermarriage among them have maintained an old type with
remarkable purity. Being better farmers than warriors they
have suffered from the oft repeated depredations of their war-
like neighbors."" Enmity with their Mohammedan neighbors
" Hakem was a Fatimite caliph of Egypt, who ruled in the early eleventh century.
He incurred the hatred of his subjects by causing the incarnation of God in himself to
be preached in Cairo by Darasi, his chaplain. Both became so unpopular that they
were forced to escape from the capital to the Lebanon, where they succeeded in imposing
their doctrines on the mountaineers. The name Druze is believed to be derived from
Darasi.
" In recent years the Maronites have submitted to the authority of the Vatican.
In return certain privileges, such as that of retention of Syriac liturgy, have been
accorded to them. They constitute a veritable theocracy, all tribal and community
affairs being handled by the clergy.
'° The French military expedition to the Lebanon, undertaken in 1860, was caused
by the massacre of over 12,000 Maronites by the Druzes in that year.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 301
dates from the time of the Crusades when the Maronites had
sided with the Christian knights.
The Jews
The Jews of Turkey include a small remnant of the captivity
settled around Jerusalem and in Mesopotamia." After the
destruction of Jerusalem, the valley of the Tigris became the
most important seat of the Hebrews. Parthian tolerance granted
them a partial autonomy under the authority of a chief chosen
from among the descendants of the house of David.^^ This
liberal regime ended with the decline in power of the Abbasside
caliphs of Bagdad. The Jews were then forced to abandon
Chaldea. Many emigrated to Spain. Later, under the reign of
Ferdinand and Isabella, they were compelled to flee from Spanish
persecution and seek a home again in Turkey. Descendants of
these emigrants, known as Sephardim, are settled in cities of
Asia Minor and Syria. Small colonies of Ashkenazim Jews
are also scattered in various Turkish towns. An old colony
of a few hundred Samaritans survives in the vicinity of
Nablus.
The Jews are an exceedingly composite people and, contrary
to popular belief, do not represent as pure a type of the Semitic
race as the Bedouin Arabs. Southern Syria was a prey to
invaders from every quarter of the compass. It was the clashing
ground of Hittite and Miotic civilizations. From the west,
Mediterranean seafaring populations swarmed in from earliest
antiquity. At least three great waves of Semitic migrations
overwhelmed the land prior to the coming of the Arabs. The
Jew, therefore, represents the fusion of four distinct races of
men. The purity he has retained is that of the fused type. His
language alone is Semitic. His physical appearance recalls
Hittite traits more prominently than Semitic and this probably
accounts for the frequent mistaking, in western Europe and in
the United States, of Armenians for Jews.
" This group comprises about 90,000 souls in Syria and 40,000 in Mesopotamia.
"E. Aubin: La Perse d'aujourd'hui, Paris, 1908, p. 418.
302 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The Arameans are either direct ancestors of modern Jews or
else close congeners of early Hebrews. Both peoples are closely
allied. They represent one of the many waves of Semitic
humanity which have rolled out of Arabia's highland steppes, A
period of settlement in the fertile districts around the mouth of
the Euphrates and Tigris precedes their spread throughout
Mesopotamia and northeastern Syria. Eeferences to their his-
tory abound in sacred texts, as well in inscriptional remains °'
found throughout western Asia. The accounts, however, are
fragmentary and so far have made possible only partial recon-
stitution of their history. An Aramean nation or a number of
Aramean states undoubtedly existed in the tenth century b.c.
This body subsequently acquired considerable power and founded
colonies all over Mesopotamia and Syria. Damascus and
Hamath, both in the latter province, became the greatest centers
of Aramean power, owing to the natural resources of the districts
around their sites as well as to their commanding position on
important trade routes.
It seems established that the vast territory designated by the
Assyrians by the name of "Mat Aram," or land of Aram, did
not necessarily contain Aramaic populations. It was more
probably conquered by Arameans, who imposed their language
on the subjugated peoples. Soon after the capture of Damascus
by the Assyrians in 732 b.c. the Aramean nation disappears from
history. Aramaic, however, survived and was even adopted by
the victors.^" But, in common with other Semitic languages, it
could not withstand the advance of Arabic. The only locality in
which it is now spoken is found northeast of Damascus in the
environs of the villages of Malula, Bakha and Tubb Adin, where
the natives still use a dialect similar to the Palestinian Aramaic
spoken thirteen centuries ago. There is reason to believe that
this sub-group of Syrians represents today the old Aramean
" The Elephantine papyri diecovered on the island of Elephantine in southern
Egypt between 1903 and 1906 contain Aramaic texts of great historical value.
'"0. Procksch: Die V61ker Altpaiastinas, Leipzig, 1914, p. 30.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 303
Stock in as pure a degree as is consistent with the secular
mingling of peoples which has taken place in the region."
The Yezidis
The Sinjar range of hills stretching in a westerly direction
from Mosul is the only upland of importance in the Mesopo-
tamian valley. The largest compact mass of Yezidis are domi-
cUed in this hilly country. A minor group occupies the Samaan
mountains in Syria.*^
The appellation of devil-worshipers which generally accom-
panies the name of Yezidi conveys a totally erroneous impression
regarding their beliefs. They recognize, in fact, a benign deity,
the Khode-Qanj, who reigns supreme over creation but with
whom is associated an inferior divine essence, the Malik-i-Tawus,
or Peacock King, who is lord of all evil and whom they consider
necessary to propitiate in order to avert misfortune. But the
ceremonies and sacrifices performed in honor of the subordinate
deity do not interfere with the primary worship with which the
God of Good is revered." This interpretation of divinity bears
deep analogy to the Iranian cult which revolves around the cen-
tral figures of Ormuzd and Ahriman, respectively the good and
the evil principle. The language of the Yezidis, which is akin
to Kurdish, brings added evidence of the eastern derivation of
their culture.
According to their own traditions the Yezidis came originally
from the districts of the lower Euphrates. Certain Sabean
features of their religion indicate intimate contact with Semitic
populations. Little is known about their curious religious cele-
brations, to which strangers are never admitted. Their practice
of bowing before the rising sun is a clear relic of Zoroastrian
influence. They also perform rites which have analogy to
*'■ At the end of the pre-Islamic period the region west of the Euphrates to the
eastern slopes of the Lebanon mountains was known to the Arabs as " Beit Aramyeh,"
or the land of the Arameans.
" H. Lammens : Le Massif du Gebal et les Yezidis de Syrie, Melanges FaculU
Orient. Univ. Beyrouth,, 1907, pp. 366-407.
" W. B. Heard: Notes on Yezidis, Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Vol. 41, pp. 200-219.
304 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Christian commemorations. In a land overrun in all directions
no simple feature of the views they hold can account for their
origin. The religion of the moment was imposed by the domi-
nant element over all the peoples of Asiatic Turkey. Hence a
given group merely shows successive strata of religious invasions.
The sturdUy-buUt Yezidi is active and hardy. His energy
sets him apart from the lithe-limbed and easy-going Arabs. His
vigor and fighting blood saved him from the frightful persecu-
tions for which the particularly obnoxious feature of his dual
deity was responsible. Byzantine bishops and Arabian moUahs
in turn reserved the wildest thunder of their intolerance for the
Yezidi, whom they execrated beyond all others among heretics
and unbelievers. This hatred of the presumed worshiper of the
devil has not yet been outlived, and a devout Mohammedan will
today spit upon the ground and mutter a curse whenever the
abhorred name crosses his lips.
The Yezidis enjoy fame as agriculturists who know how to
exact good yield from their mountain farms. They live a retired
life and rarely allow strangers to travel through the Sinjar
range. The modern armament of Turkish expeditions has
cowed the present generation into a submission which their
fathers would have scorned. But they still remain unwilling tax
payers who rely on the natural disinclination of Turkish tax
collectors to mountain-climbing.
The Nestoeians
The Nestorians, a Christian sect, are descendants of the fol-
lowers of Nestorius, who seceded from established orthodoxy in
the sixth century. They inhabit scattered villages in a region
which changes from mountain to plain as it extends west of the
Persian frontier to the Tigris river, roughly between latitudes
34° and 38°. On the north they rarely venture beyond the
Bohtan river. The mountainous tract produces a manly set, who
have more than held their own against the martial Kurds.
Poverty and dependence mark the lot of the plainsmen in spite
of their industry as agriculturists.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 305
To say that the inhabitants of Turkey have religious nation-
ality is perhaps the happiest way of accounting for the presence
of large numbers of independent conununities owing political
allegiance to the Sultan. The bond of faith in the case of the
Nestorians is one of remarkable strength, because this community
represents the persecuted remnant of the ancient church of cen-
tral Asia. Owing to its situation on the very outskirts of early
Christianity the church became engaged in propagating the
Gospel on a scale exceeded only by the see of Eome in the sixth
and sixteenth centuries.** Consciousness of this tradition has not
forsaken the Nestorians of the present day. The great influence
wielded by their patriarch or religious head, the Mar Shimun,
as he is called, is a relic of former authority.
The speech of the Nestorians is a Syriac dialect in which
Persian, Arabic and Kurdish words have found place. Religious
services are conducted, however, in the uncontamin ated language.
The Nestorians call themselves Syrians and refuse to recognize
any other appellation. Owing to this fact much confusion has
arisen in the minds of travelers who have attempted to describe
them.
The ' Chat.deans
The Chaldeans are racially akin to the Nestorians, with whom
they formed a single religious community prior to the seven-
teenth century. The hope of obtaining relief from Mohammedan
persecution induced an important section of the old community
to join the church of Eome at that time. In recent years, how-
ever, many have forsaken Eoman Catholicism and formed a new
sect which is known by the name of New Chaldeans. Protestant
communities of this people as well as of Nestorians and Jacobites
exist.
The Jacobites
The rugged limestone district around Midyad is the home of
another mountain people known as the Jacobites. Banded
**A. P. Stanley: Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church, New York,
1909, p. 58.
306 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
together by the ties of religion they form a community of hus-
bandmen living aloof from their neighbors of divergent religious
views. They are described as of warlike nature and independent
spirit. Language also differentiates them from other Ottoman
groups, a Syriac dialect differing considerably from Nestorian
being in use among them.*° In Turabdin they speak an Aramaic
dialect known as Turani. The Jacobites are noted for their apti-
tude for business. The important colony of traders founded in
the eighteenth century in the vicinity of Bagdad owes its origin
to the desert traffic and the Indian trade by way of Basra.
This people traces its religious origin to the teachings of
Jacobus Baradeus," who, in the middle of the sixth century,
traveled through Asia Minor and consolidated scattered groups
of Monophysite recusants into a single body. They constituted
a large sect during the Middle Ages, but defections, notably in
favor of the Roman Church, have thinned their numbers consid-
erably since then. At present they muster hardly more than
15,000 individuals.
The Sabeans
We are still in the dark concerning the history of the
Sabeans, a people of Semitic origin who profess Christianity.
That they once formed a powerful nation is attested by numerous
ruins and inscriptions. This state began to decline in the first
century of the Christian era and had completely disappeared by
500 A.D. They call themselves Mendai and are often known by
the name of Christians of St. John. The community is small,
numbering hardly 3,000 souls, mostly goldsmiths and boat-
builders who ply their trade in the Arab encampments of the
Amara and Muntefik sanjaks in the vilayet of Basra. They talk
a Semitic dialect and dress like the Arabs, from whom they can
scarcely be distinguished. Their original homeland is believed
to have been Yemen.
"H. Trotter: Cteogr. Journ., Vol. 35, No. 4, 1910, p. 378.
■" F. J. Bliss: The Religions of Modern Syria and Palestine, New York, 1912.
.'*^.,-
.»f
Fic. iU.
-J
*i#"^
^t-^aSr:
Fig. 0.
Fio. lU — Kuril cliildriMi nf tlip Arnieiiiaii lidi'dcrlniiil Tlie jmvovty of tlie land is
rcflectpri ill tlioir ap|i(\iraiire im Ie<< tliaii in tlie arid Iiarl<L:round of the pliotograidi.
Fig. il.!i — A family of sedentary Arabs in ^^e^ollotalnia.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 307
The Aeabs
The Arab folk, sparsely distributed over the Syrian desert
and forming the majority of the inhabitants of the featureless
downs of Mesopotamia, represent the ebbing of the last tide of
Semitic invasion. In the sandy waste of their western extension,
their tribes, shifting perpetually from seat to seat, like the dunes
around which they roam, consist of Bedouin or "tent men." The
contribution of these nomads to society is as insignificant as the
yield of the unproductive lands of their wandering. Towards the
east, however, where two mighty rivers bring fertility and life to
the soil, the genius of the race blossomed untrammeled and gave
Mohammedan civilization to the world.
The purest living representatives of the Semitic race are found
among these Bedouins. Civilization pursued its steady growth
around their tent homes without affecting their lives. Better
favored belts encircling the Syrian desert attracted the human
migrations which took place in western Asia. From the last out-
liers of the hill system fringing the southern Taurus to the
northern confines of the Arabian peninsula, the patriarchal state
of society prevailing today differs little from the condition in
which a dreamer well past middle age found it fourteen centuries
ago and brought it within the pale of modern thought by inspiring
it with the enthusiasm of his own belief in a single God. Stripped
of his religion and of his rifle, the Bedouin stands today before
the historian as the living image of long remote ancestors whose
invasions caused profound upheavals in the societies established
east and west of his present tramping ground.
But the Arab settled in the long elongated plain watered by
the Tigris and Euphrates can never lay claim to equal purity of
stock. He lives in a land which by virtue of a great twin river
system gave rise to the oldest civilization of the world. Its
inhabitants, whether aboriginal or invaders from the table-land
on the east, derived more than mere sustenance from prox-
imity to these mothering watercourses. Surrounded by desert
and mountain, this region naturally became a seat of population.
308 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
Its native element, already much mixed, was assimilated to a
large extent by the Arabs since the period of their appearance
in Mesopotamia.
The floating masses of Bedouins have successfully resisted
Turkish effort to induce them to abandon nomadism. Occa-
sionally, as in the belt of Tauric precipitation or along the
borders of the zone of Mediterranean rains no less than under
the benign influence of Mesopotamian rivers, they become seden-
tary. They are then known as fellaheen. But the change is
incompatible with their immemorial restlessness and implies loss
of caste in their own eyes.
TABLE I
Names and Peoples of Some Non-Tdekish Villages in Asia Minor
Peoples designated as follows :
Alevi Al.
Armenians Ar.
Avshars Av.
Chaldeans Ch.
Circassians Cir.
Greeks Gr.
Karapapaks Kpk.
Kizilbash Kz.
Kurds Kd.
Nestorians N.
New Chaldeans N. Ch.
Tatars Ta.
Turkomans Tkn.
Yezidi Yd.
Name of Village
Peoples
Name of Village
Peoples
Aghje Kaleh Kd.
Agh-ova Kd.
Aivali Gr.
Ak-bunar Cir.
Akdam Ar.
Akhlat Kd.
Akstafa Kpk.
Alaklissia Gr.
Alexandropol Ar.
Alkosh N. Ch.
Altea Gr.
Angora Ar.
Arabja Keupri Gr. & Cir.
Ardia .' Cir.
Arji N.
Atess N.
Awiran Gr.
Bazarjik Kd.
Berar Ar.
Bey Ch.
Birgami Kd.
Chateran Ar.
Chevirme Kd.
Chukh Ar.
Deliler Kd.
Derendeh Ar ,
Diz-deran Kd.
Ekrek Ar.
Feshapur Ch.
Punduk Cir.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY
309
Name of Village Peoples
Furinji Kd.
Garib Kd.
Garni Ar.
Gemerek Ar.
Gunderno Ar.
Gunig-kaleh Ar.
Gurgujeli Tkn.
Gurun Ar.
Haik Ar.
Hamsi Gr.
Hanefi Al.
Harras Kd.
Helais Kd.
Homova Ar.
Hoshmat Ar.
Inevi Tkn.
Instosh Ar.
Isbarta Gt.
Isoghlu Kd.
Jenan Kd.
Jessi Kd.
Kaialik Kd.
Kainar Cir.
Karaehu Kd.
Kara-geben Ar.
Keklik-oghlu Kd.
Kelebesh Gr-
Kemer ■^^■
Keupri Tkn.
Kezanlik C!ir.
Khakkaravokh Kd.
Khasta-Khaneh Av.
Khusi N.
Kinskh Kd.
Kizil-doghan Cr^.
Kilisse Ar.
Koehannes N.
Koch-hissar Ar.
Kojeri Ar.
Koshmet Kz.
Kotni K:d.
Kula Gr.
Kwaneh ^•
Maden ^.
Madrak Kd.
Mansuriyeh Ch.
Melendis G^-
Mervanen ^.
Name of Village Peoples
Misli Gr.
Mush plain Ar.
Nerdivan Kd.
Nerib Kd.
Nigdeh Gr.
Niksar Gr.
Norchuk Ar.
Omar Kd.
Orbiilu Kd.
Pekarieh Ar.
Pingan Ar.
Porrot Kd.
Pulk Ar.
Rabat Kd.
Redvan Yd.
Samsat Kd.
Sekunis N.
SemU Yd.
Serai N.
Shabin Kara-Hissar Ar.
Shahr Ar.
Sha-uta N.
Sheik Adi Yd.
Sheikh Amir Kd.
Sheikhan Kd.
Shen Kd.
Shernak Kd.
Sultan Oghlu Tkn.
Tadvan Ar.
Takvaran Kd.
Tashan Ar.
Tashbunar Cir.
Terzdli Ar.
Thorub Ch.
Tokat At.
Tomarze Ar.
Top-agaeh Ar.
Tor Tkn.
Ulash Ar.
Uzum Yaila Cir.
Vurla Gr.
Yakshi-khan Ta.
Yalak Av.
Yarzuat Ta.
Yeni Keui Kd.
Zara Ar.
Zela Ar.
310 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
TABLE II
Classification op the Peoples of Asiatic Turkey
Name
Race
Religion
Speech
HOMKLAHD
Estimated
Number
Allevis (see
Tahtajis)
Ansariyehs
Armenoid
Monotheistic
Arabic
Syrian mts. and Cili-
175,000
cian plains
Aptals
Arabs
Armenoid
Sunni
Arabic
Syrian mts.
uncertain
Semitic
Mohammedan
Arabic
South of Tauric and
300,000 ?
Armenian mts.
Arameans
Semitic
Hebrew
Aramean
300
Armenians
Armenoid
Christian
Armenian
(Aryan)
Armenian highland,
Taurus and Anti-
1,000,000'
Asdias (see
Taurus ranges
Tezidis)
Avshare
Tnrki
Shia
Turkish
Anti-Taurus
uncertain
Balikis
Armenoid
Mixed Moham-
medan and
Christian
Mixed Arabic,
Kurdish and
Armenian
Near Sasun
uncertain
Bejvans
Semitic
Mixed Moham-
medan and
Christian
Arabic
Near Mosul
uncertain
Chaldeans
Semitic
Roman Catholic
Syriac, Kurdish
and Arabic
Near Diarbekr and
Jezireh ; Sert and
60,000
Chepmis (see
Khabur basin
Tahtajis)
Circassians
Mixed Tnrki and
Indo-European
Mohammedan
Turkish
Anatolia, N. Syria, N.
MeBoi)otamia
500,000
Druzes
Armenoid
Mohammedan
Arabic
Lebanon ; Anti-Leba-
non, Hawran mts.,
around Damascus
200,000
Greeks ^
Mediterranean
Christian
Greek
Coast districts, min-
ing districts, large
cities
2,000,000
lemailyehs
Armenoid
Mohammedan
Semitic
Northern Syria
22,000
Jacobites
Semitic
Christian (Mono-
physites)
Hebrew
Syriac
Syria, Mesopotamia
15,000
Jews
Mixed Semitic,
Hebrew
Jerusalem ; environs
150,000
Mediterranean
of Damascus
and Armenoid
Karapapaks
Tnrki
Shia
Turkish
Tntakh-Patnoz
3,000
Kizilbash
Armenoid mixed
Shia, or mixture of
Turkish
Angora and Sivas vil-
400,000
with Turki
Shiism, Pagan-
ism, Manichaeism,
and Christianity
ayets ; Dersim
Kurds
Indo-European
Mohammedan
Aryan lan-
guages
West of the Sakaria
river ; Kurdistan
1,500,000
Lazis
Georgian branch of
the Caucaso-Thi-
betan peoples
Mohammedan
Grusinian
Lazistan ; north of
Choruk Su, around
Riza
nncertain
Maronites
Armenoid
Christian
Arabic
Mt. Lebanon, Anti-
Lebanon
350,000
Metauilehs
Probably Armenoid
Shia
Arabic
Northern Lebanon
under 50,00(>
Nestorians
Armenoid
Christian
Syriac
Basin of the Great
Zab ; valleys of the
Bohtan and Khabar
60,000
New Chaldeans
Semitic
Christian
Syriac
Alkosh
nncertain
Saheans
Semitic
Christian
Syriac
Amara and Munteflk
eanjaks of the Basra
vilayet
Near Nablus
3,000
Samaritans
Semitic
Hebrew
Hebrew
.300
Syrians
Semitic
Christian and Mo-
hammedan
Arabic
Syria and Mesopo-
tamia
uncertain
Tahtajis
Armenoid
Mohammedan
Turkish
Lycian mts.
5,000
Tatars
Turki
Mohammedan
Turkish
Anatolia and Cilician
25,000
Terekimans (see
plains
Karapapaks)
Turkomans
Turki
Mohammedan
Turkish
Angora, Adana and
Aleppo vilayets
nncertain
Turks
Turki mixed with
Armenoid
Mohammedan
Turkish
Anatolia mainly
8,000,000
Tezidis or Asdais
Mixed Armenoid
Devil-worshipers,
Kermanji
Kurt Dagh on the W.
40,000
Mnd Indo-
mixture of the old
to Zakho E. of the
European
Babylonian relig-
ion ; Zoroastrian-
ism, Manicbaeism
and Christianity
Tigris ; Badi near
Mosul ; Sinjar range
Yuruks
Armenoid
Mohammedan
Turkish
Konia vilayet
200,000
Total
13,048,600
1 The figures for Armenians and Greeks require revision in view of the systematic efforts of the Turks to
extirpate these two peoples. The massacres of the entire Greek population of villages of the ^gean coasts
and atrocities of a most inhuman character perpetrated on the Armenians of inland communities have largely
depleted the ranks of these two Christian subject groups,
3 Hellenes, or subjects of the King of Greece, number about 20,000.
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 311
TABLE III
The Christians of the Turko-Peesian Borderland
I. Mosul and the Valley of the Tigris {by families) '
District of Mosul.
City of Mosul 2,000R.C.^
City of Mosul 2 200 J
City of Mosul '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.['. 400 E. C. s.
3^^^^ 2,000 R. C.
^^^^^r 700 J
^^ti'a 300 R. C.
^^*°^i 400 R. C.
Tel Uskof 450JJC.
-^l^°sh 700 R. C.
^"^"^ 150 R. C.
Bait Kupa 300 R. C.
Mar Yakob & Sheus lOO R. C.
'^°^^^ 8,700 8,700
District of Sapna.
Mangeshie 200 R. C.
DiHe 30 p.
Daviria 100 R. C.
Tinn 70 R. C.
Aradin 200 R. C.
Haszia & Benata 50 R. C.
Bibaidi 30 N.
Diri 40 N.
Dirginie 35 N.
Lower Barnai, Maisie, Chamankie, etc 120 R. C.
Total 875 875
District of Zakhu.
Zakhu 100 R. C.
Bait Dam 90 R. C.
Peshawur 110 R. C.
Bersiwi 70 R. C.
Shamish 50 R. C.
Margu & Baiju 95 R. C.
Wasta 80 R. C.
Total 595 595
' Figures supplied by Dr. W. W. Eookwell, Editor of the American Committee for
Armenian and Syrian Relief. See Rockwell: Pitiful Plight, second ed., pp. 66.
^Abbreviations; E. C: Roman Catholic Uniats, "Chaldeans." R. C. s.: Roman
Catholic Uniats, " Syrian Catholics." J. : Jacobites. N. : Nestorians, " Assyrian Chris-
tians." P.: Protestants.
312 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
TABLE 111— Continued
District of Bohtan.
Tilkuba 60 R. C.
Jazera ( Jezireh) 150 R. C.
Mansuria 60 P.
Hassan 70 N.
Shakh 30 P.
Mar Akha 30 P.
Mar Yohannan 10 P.
A few other villages 50 F.
Total 460 460
District of Zibar.
Esan 30 N.
Argin 7 N.
Shushu & Shannan 25 N.
Shaklawa (in Akra) 500 R. C.
Akra 300 R. C.
Total 862 862
District of E. Berwar.
Aina d'Nuni 50 N.
Duri 35 N.
Ikri & Malakhta 40 N.
Bait Baluk 20 N.
Four villages, including Halwa, Khwara 50 N.
Dirishki 20 N.
Maiyi 25 N.
Haiyiz 30 N.
Bishmeyayi 20 N.
lad 20 N.
Tashish 30 N.
Musakka 20 N.
Three small villages 25 N.
Jadeda 15 N.
Chalik 30 N.
Kaneba Labi 20 N.
Total 450 450
11,942
II. The Highlands of Kurdistan
Tyari 5,000
Tkhuma 2,500
Baz 800
Tal 700
Diz 600
Jilu 2,500
THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY 313
TABLE III— Continued
Berwar (Qndshanis included) 900
Lewan (west of Julamerk) 300
Srarai (45 miles east of Van) 300
Eleven villages around Serai 400
Norduz (on Van-Julamerk road) 200
Albak (near Bashkala) 300
Gawar 400
Six villages in Nerwan & Rekan 200
Shemsdinan & Bar Bhishu (estimated) 200
Total families 15,300 15,300
Grand total 27,242
Total individuals at sis to a family 163,452
CHAPTEE Xin
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS
The science of geography attains its highest usefulness when
called into the service of man. Having in mind the influence of
regional environment upon human societies and particularly upon
language and nationality as shown in the foregoing chapters, let
us next look at the bearing of our conclusions on the determina-
tion of international frontiers. The problem consists in ascer-
taining the logical or natural limit of the spread of language
and nationality. Growing at first in listless response to environ-
ment, natural frontiers eventually attain a stage where intelligent
conformity to the same environment becomes necessary. Here
the linguistic factor based on a sound geographical foundation
acquires practical value though it is not necessarily the only
determining element.
The spirit of nationality represents the highest development
of the idea of self-preservation. Its growth can be traced from
the individual to the family, thence to the tribe and city, until
the formation of the political state is obtained. In the last
stages of this process, nationality attains perfection through
homogeneity of its component individuals. The men who com-
pose a single nation must think together. Their ideals and aims
must be one and they must be conscious of a common destiny.
Language, as the currency of thought, naturally becomes the
unifier. To a notable degree areas of homogeneous language in
Europe have been spared the havoc of battle or siege. On the
other hand, linguistic borderlands have always been scenes of
armed struggle and destruction.
Community of origin is not essential among members of the
same nation. The bond of language and identity of historical
destiny suffice for the creation of nationality. An English-
314
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 315
speaMng immigrant on United States soil, imbued with the spirit
of the principles on which the country's independence is founded,
finds himself in a state of response to the idea of American
nationality. And yet, the idea of nationality is no mere integra-
tion of historical associations. It stands enthroned in the land.
The poet touches his compatriot's heart by recalling the murmur
of the forest or by a picture of the winding shore. Through the
charm of living green enshrined in circling hills, at times through
an appreciation of the solemn peak rising heavenward, man
found love of homeland. A strong tie between humanity and the
land was created by these relations.
Nationality cannot depend on language alone, for it is founded
on geographical unity. The past thousand years of European
history contain sufficient proof of the fact. The three southern
peninsulas Spain, Italy and Greece are homelands of an equal
number of nations. A single language is current in each. To the
north a similar differentiation of nations adapts itself to regional
divisions. Plains, mountains and seas have limited European
nationalities to definite number and extension.
Thus every people acquires a peculiar genius which expresses
itself in characteristic fashion and cannot be made to assume a
.guise alien to its own spirit. It absorbs the idealism of its
captors and molds it into its own form. The poet's intuition
rarely echoed deeper truth than in the oft-quoted passage which
immortalized the spirit of Hellas:
Graeeia capta ferum vietorem cepit, et artes
Intulit agresti Latio.
Europe was stirred to the consciousness of nationality by the
French Eevolution. Nations began finding themselves when the
doctrine of man's equality, proclaimed on French soil, found
responsive welcome among the peoples of the continent. But the
new spirit caused dismay in every court circle. The inevitable
reaction that followed was reflected in the treaty of Vienna of
1815, when national aspirations were ignominiously ignored and
316 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
peoples beheld ttemselves bartered as chattels. The delegates in
attendance sat as representatives of dynastic interests. Their
interest in remodeling the political map of Europe was absorbed
whoUy by the idea of securing compensation for the spoliation
of the territorial property of their sovereigns. Their labors
meant triumph for autocratic rule. Popular clamor for national
grouping was unheeded. Instead of quieting Europe, the treaty
of Vienna was a virtual admission on the part of less than three
dozen men that Europeans were incapable of bearing the glorious
burden of their own destinies. The tares of monarchical despot-
ism were left to stain the field of popular freedom.
But the seed sown by the great act of the French Eevolution
was hardy. It was too late to eradicate liberal spirit from
European society. A mighty struggle of ideas ushered in the
revolts of 1830 and 1848. Twenty odd years more, and for the
first time in its history western Europe was parceled into lin-
guistic nations. The birth of Germany during this period was
significantly heralded by an outburst of patriotic literature which
for fire and enthusiasm was unprecedented. Geibel's demand for
a united Germany in Heroldsrufe was but the echo of the
aspirations of millions of his countrymen. France emerged out
of these ordeals without loss of her linguistic territory. The
area of German speech received marked attention. In truth the
morning of modem German nationality may be said to have
broken in 1815. A year prior to this historic date, the decision
had been reached at the treaty of Paris (March 30, 1814) to
unite the German states into a single confederation. The domi-
nating thought of European diplomacy, at the time, was to pre-
vent a recurrence of Napoleonic disturbances.
"With their restricted territories, as well as by the jealousies
which animated their rulers, the German states lay, an easy prey,
at the mercy of any ambitious foreign leader. In their union,
Europe hoped to lay the foundations of continental peace. Such
a federation, it was thought, would safeguard the other European
countries from a concerted German attack, as it seemed highly
improbable that the entire confederacy would join in a war
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 317
undertaken by any one of its members for purposes of self-
aggrandizement. By this arrangement provision was made for
tbe strengthening of a number of weak states without the
creation of a new powerful unit in the group of European
nations. Thirty million Germans, comprising by far the majority
of the German-speaking inhabitants of the period, were thus
politically welded for the first time in modem history.
The idea of nationality had received scant attention in Ger-
many before the nineteenth century. Kant, Fichte and Hegel
contributed powerfully to its awakening. Hardly had the concept
become familiar to German thought before its relation with lan-
guage became established. The trend of feeling on the subject
is best expressed by Arndt about half a century before the
fruition of Bismarck's life project at Versailles:
Was ist das deutsche Vaterland?
So nenne endlich mir das Land!
So weit die deutsche Zunge klingt
Und Gott im Himmel Lieder singt,
Dass soil es sein, dass soU es sein,
Das ganze Deutsehland soil es sein/
A literary history of a country is, in great measure, the
mirror of its political growth. The development of social apti-
tudes, of intellectual faculties or of material wants within a
given area is, in the last resort, an expansion of the living forces
which make for nationality and which, ultimately, find their way
to literary records. Nationality and literature are thus bound
together by geography and history. Whatever be the period
under observation, the spirit of the day pervades them both.
A striking example of this relation is observable in medieval
' What is the German's Fatherland?
name at length this mighty land!
As wide as sounds the German tongue,
And Germans hymns to heaven are sung,
That is the land;
That, German, is thy Fatherland.
[Translation from J. F. Chamberlain's Literary Selections as an Aid in Teaching
Geography, Journ. of Oeogr., Sept. 1916, p. 12.]
318 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
France, where the troubadours personified the feudal conditions
which prevailed in the country. And furthermore literature, as
a human product, partakes of all the limitations which are subtly
imposed by the land on the fancy. It varies therefore, accord-
ing to region, in mental temperament, tastes and emotions or
modes of thought.
So because it is part of life and a living influence, literature
has always consolidated the nation-forming power of language.
Poetry, especially, is often an intensified reflection of national
thought and life. In the words of Irving, "Poets always breathe
the feeling of a nation." The cultivation of literature serves
national ends. In the very child, love of country is instilled
through the medium of doggerel — sometimes through lines of
exquisite simplicity. In thus strengthening the idea of nation-
ality, literature may be compared to the statue hewn from the
marble of language by patriotic and artistic thought.
Belgian writers, in this respect, occupy a place of their own
in European literature. Verhaeren and Maeterlinck voice the
depth of their sincerity in the language of their Walloon col-
league Lemonnier. Love of country in Spaak, a Fleming, is sung
in French verse:
Oui, sois de ton pays. Connais I'idolatrie
De la terre natale ! Et porte en toi I'orgueil
Et le tourment de ses jours de gloire et de deuil.
Antoine Clesse, the poet of Mons, likewise expresses popular
feeling in French:
riamands, Wallons,
Ne sont que des prenoms
Beige est notre nom de famille.
No matter how the works of these poets are analyzed, iu
the inmost souls of these writers it is the land that speaks.
Belgitun is fathomed in their hearts. Their eyes lingered lov-
ingly on the scenery in the midst of which they lived. Flat roads
winding interminably over flat lands, chimes whose tones mellow
with age ring from the crumbling tops of old towers, rustic
SUMMAHY AND APPLICATIONS 319
feasts enlivened by the roaring mirth and joviality celebrated by
Flemish painters, these are the visions which are evoked by the
French words assembled by Belgian writers in their composi-
tions. One would seek in vain, however, for these Belgian scenes
in French literature. Like the Belgicisms which abound delight-
fully in every Belgian writer's works, they portray the soul of
Belgian poetry as sincerely as they afford genuine glimpses of
Belgian lands. The same subtle sensation of the living earth
has been felt on the troubled surface of mountainous Switzerland.
For of Swiss lands and life few descriptions will ever combine
the charm and faithfulness which characterize the works of
Gottfried Keller, foremost among the country's writers who
drew on the joint inspiration of flaming patriotism and the
incomparable beauty of Swiss landscape.
And how often has the written or spoken word fanned the
flame of nationality among downtrodden peoples ! The story is
the same from land to land and age to age. The soul of a nation
in bondage is wrapped around its patriotic literature. Genera-
tion after generation of Bohemians, Finns or Poles have drunk at
the national fount of poem and song. Within the peasant's
thatched home as in the city abode, the well-worn volume, preg-
nant with past glory, becomes the beacon of hope. It lights the
darkness of oppression's heaviest hours. For men of feeling,
destiny will ever be hailed in the word that stirs. The harvest
reaped by Cavour was of Dante's sowing.
In the bitter linguistic struggles waged in Europe two grati-
fying facts are discernible. The dominance of the majority by
an intellectually gifted minority prevails in every country and
age. Furthermore, the survival of oppressed minorities in the
midst of oppressing majorities appears to be general. The one
is the reward of competence; the other is the triumph of right
over might. Both are victories of the human will. Both have
been purchased by dint of hard struggle. Humanity is the better
for them.
Neither has conquest always been able to introduce a new
language. The widening sphere of Eoman influence carried
320 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
the original dialect of the capital to the confines of the world.
But it is unlikely that Latin was spoken in the Nubian
provinces or other outlying districts to a greater degree than
English is spoken in India today. It was only the language of
the dominant element and the one in which official transactions
were recorded. As a rule the oldest language of a country is
spoken by its peasants. The tillers of the soil usually represent
the oldest stratum in the population of a region. The principle
holds in territories which have borne the brunt of successive
invasions. It is the same in Macedonia, Poland or Transylvania.
On the other hand, the land-owning class is generally recruited
from among past invaders.
The value of language as a national asset was shown in
France during the trying days of war when the very existence
of the country was at stake. Respect for the mother-tongue is
deeply immured in every Frenchman's heart. In no other
country does the feeling reach the same pitch. The French
educational system provides ample facilities for the early initia-
tion of students to the beauties of their vernacular. The clear
and connected thought for which French writing stands pre-
eminent, its capacity for expressing the most subtle shades of
meaning, are largely results of literary discipline.
A perusal of war-time literature cannot sufficiently indicate the
part played by French language in periods of stress. One must
preferably have had the privilege of acquaintance with corre-
spondence exchanged between relatives and intimates. Patriotism
pours unfaltering from the artless lines never intended for
strangers' eyes. It is as if the crowded consciousness of French
nationality found constant release through its language. Every
observant foreigner in France has been struck by this fact. In
some instances where perception was more than usually attentive
we find, as in E. Wharton's "Fighting France," that:
" It is not too much to say that the French are at this moment drawing a part of
their national strength from their language. The piety with which they have cher-
ished and cultivated it has made it a precious instrument in their hands. It can say
so beautifully what they feel that they find strength and renovation in using it ; and
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 321
the -word once uttered is passed on, and carries the same help to others. Countless
instances of such happy expression could be cited by any one who has lived the
last year (1915) in Prance. On the bodies of young soldiers have been found let-
ters of farewell to their parents that made one think of some heroic Elizabethan
verse; and the mothers robbed of these sons have sent them an answering cry of
courage."
One of the most remarkable instances of the influence of
poetry on national destiny is found in Serbian nationality, which
has been cast altogether in the mold of the country's epic bal-
lads or "pjesmes." Although primarily inspired by the valorous
deeds of legendary heroes, these indigenous compositions describe
Serbian life and nature with extraordinary verisimilitude and
beauty. They are national in a significant sense, not merely
because the very soul of the Serbian people is displayed in their
lines, but also because they have perpetuated Serbian history
and language. The purity of the Serbian tongue, its freedom
from alien words, no less than the maintenance of historical con-
tinuity in Serbia are due, in a large measure, to the wandering
of native minstrels — the guzlars — who went to and fro reciting or
singing the wonderful exploits of their noted countrymen. Their
unconscious, though passionate insistence provided the Serbian
with the only schooling in national sentiment which he has under-
gone for generations beginning with half-mythical times. How-
ever slow, the method was effective, for it prevented atrophy of
national hopes. "Without this influence the Serbians would
probably have degenerated into a people listless and inert to the
call of nationality. The very name of Serbia might never have
been recorded in modern history.
The guzlars were therefore peddlers of nationality. The most
convincing evidence of their vital contribution to the formation
of the modern Serbian state is found during the five hundred
years in which the Turk's benumbing rule was felt in the land.
Marko Kraljevitch, the popular hero-knight, feudal lord and
outlaw, according as occasion demanded, embodies Serbian
resistance and Serbian revolt against Moslem invaders. The
stirring accents in which tales of his deep attachment to Serbia
were recounted awakened exultant delight in the heart and brain
322 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
of listeners and inspired them to the hope of liberation from the
hated yoke. Serbia was prepared for the day of national inde-
pendence by means of this slow and century-long propaganda.
Keplete with the glow and color of Serbian lands, the pjesme
voices Serbia's national aspirations once more in the storm and
stress of new afiflictions. Its accents ring so true that the geog-
rapher, in search of Serbian boundaries, tries in vain to discover
a surer guide to delimitation. For Serbia extends as far as her
folk-songs are heard. From the Adriatic to the western walls
of Balkan ranges, from Croatia to Macedonia, the guzlar's ballad
is the symbol of national solidarity. His tunes live within the
heart and upon the lips of every Serbian. The pjesme may
therefore be fittingly considered the measure and index of a
nationality whose fiber it has stirred. To make Serbian territory
coincide with the regional extension of the pjesme implies defin-
ing of the Serbian national area. And Serbia is only one among
many countries to which this method of delimitation is appli-
cable.
In Finland, nationality is embodied in the heartening lines of
the "Kalevala," that Iliad of the north which takes its coloring
from nature with no less delightful sensitiveness than the
Homeric masterpiece. The lines of the poem define this Finnish
epic as:
Songs of ancient wit and wisdom,
Legends they that once were taken
From the pastures of the Northland,
From the meads of Kalevala.
In this poem the beauty and color of Finland's inland seas
and the bleakness of surrounding plains are painted in bold
strokes and with loving effusiveness. The Finn finds in its lines
a reminder of the scenes among which he has been reared and
the link which binds him to his past and to his land. As a
mosaic of national life pieced together by patriotism the Kalevala
occupies a unique position among literary productions of
northern countries. Even a note of Asiatic melancholy pervades
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 323
its verses as if to recall the share of Asia in the formation of
Finnish national life.
The lyrics and songs collected in the Kalevala were brought
together in the beginning of the nineteenth century at a critical
period of Finnish history when national feeling had sunk to its
lowest ebb. Swedes and Russians vied with one another in their
efforts to denationalize Finland and bring the peninsula within
the sphere of their respective influence. No sooner was the
Kalevala published, however, than Finnish nationality asserted
itself with renewed vigor. Today after the lapse of almost a
century since this revival, Finland's spirit of national independ-
ence is diffused more widely than ever among its people. Such
was the influence of a literary echo of their land.
Among the peoples of Turkey, nationality and literature
become largely expressions of religious feeling. It could not be
otherwise in a country in which creed is the only medium of
intellectual progress. The oppressed native found refuge from
the tyranny of his Turkish masters in his church. His natural
yearning for a higher life found solace only within the sanctu-
aries of his faith. All the education he received was obtained in
schools attached to the churches.
But to unravel the hopeless confusion which, at first glance,
seems to permeate human groupings in Turkey is, in the main,
a problem of geography. The region consists of a mountainous
core and a series of marginal lowlands. Its elevated area is a
link: in the central belt of mountains which extends uninter-
ruptedly from Asia into Europe. This long chain of uplifts is
the original seat of an important race of highlanders collectively
known as Homo alpinus.^ As far as is ascertainable to date, the
mountaineers of Turkey have all the anatomical characteristics
pertaining to this branch of the human family. Their religion
and language may differ but the physical type remains unchanged.
Basing themselves on this relation, anthropologists have assumed
that Asiatic Turkey is the brood-home of a sub-species of Homo
'J. L. Myres: The Alpine Eaces in Europe, Oeogr. Journ., Vol. 28, 1906, No. 6,
pp. 537-553.
324 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
alpinus which is gradually acquiring recognition as a primordial
Armenoid element.' This type exists in its greatest purity today
among the Mohammedan dissenters of the Anatolian table-land
as well as among the Druzes and Maronites of Syria.
By geographical position, Asiatic Turkey is the junction of
land thoroughfares which trend from south to north as well as
from east to west. Its aboriginal population came inevitably
into contact with the races whose migrations are known to have
begun about 4,000 e.g. A second group of peoples is thus obtained
in which the old strain is considerably modified. Armenians,
Turks, upland Greeks, Jacobites, Nestorians and most of the
Kurds represent this mixed element. A third group consists of
lowlanders who never made the ascent of Turkish mountains and
consequently carry no traces of Hittite ancestry. Maritime
Greek populations and Arabs fall under this classification.
In the main we see that the mountain bears in its central part
a homogeneous and coherent people. Distance from the core
has slight effect upon the physical characteristics of the moun-
taineers, as long as they do not forsake the upland for the low-
land. Their ideas, however, undergo modifications which can be
interpreted as concessions to the views of more powerful peoples
with whom contact is established. Customs, however, generally
remain unchanged even if they have to be maintained in secrecy.
Nevertheless, relief alone cannot account for the variety of
peoples and religions in Asiatic Turkey. The easternmost
fringe of Christianity emerging sporadically out of an ocean of
Mohammedanism discloses, by the variety of its discordant ele-
ments, the extent to which distance from Constantinople, the
religious capital of the eastern church, had weakened the power
of ecclesiastical authority. Armenians, Nestorians, Chaldeans,
Jacobites and Maronites, one and all heretics in the eyes of
Orthodox prelates, were merely independent thinkers who relied
on the remoteness of their native districts in order to protest,
without peril to themselves, against the innovations of Byzantine
' F. von LuBchan : The Early Inhabitants of Western Asia, Ann. Rept. Smithsonian
Inst, for 1914, p. 577.
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 325
theologians, or to stand firm on the basis of the rites and doc-
trines of early Christianity.
From the social standpoint the eastern half of Asiatic Turkey
deserves investigation as the seat of an immemorial conflict
between nomadism and sedentary life. Every stage of the transi-
tion between the two conditions may be observed. The feuds
which set community against community in Turkey often origi-
nate in the divergent interests of nomad and settled inhabitant,
and are enforced by economic factors. As an example the Kurds
of the Armenian highlands may be mentioned. The perpetuation
of nomadism in their case is the result of extensive horse-
breeding'' — their chief source of revenue — ^which compels them
to seek low ground in winter.
Viewed as a whole, Asiatic Turkey has changed from an ideal
nursery of hardy men to a land of meeting between races and
peoples as well as between their ideals. It may be safely pre-
dicted that the future of its inhabitants bids fair to be as
intimately affected as their past by the remarkable situation of
the country and its physical features. One can only hope, for
their sake, that a thorough invasion of highland and lowland by
the spirit of the west will not be delayed much longer. This
much may be said now, that the establishment of Christian rule
in the land would probably be attended by wholesale conversions
to Christianity in many so-called Mohammedan cormnunities,
where observance of Islamic rites has been dictated by policy,
rather than by faith.
In dealing with the varied influences which engage attention
in a study of linguistic areas the student is frequently compelled
to pause before the importance of economic relations. Inspection
of a map of Europe suggests strikingly that zones of linguistic
contact were destined by their very location to become meeting-
places for men speaking different languages. They correspond
to the areas of circulation defined by Eatzel." The confusion of
*D. G. Hogarth: The Nearer East, New York, 1902, pp. 198-199.
" F. Ratzel: Politische Geographie, 2nd ed., Munich, 1903. Cf. Chap. 16, "Der
Verkehr als Raumbewaltiger," pp. 447-534.
326 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
languages on their site is in almost every instance the result of
human intercourse determined by economic causes. Necessity,
far more than the thought of lucre, compels men to resort to
intercourse with strangers. In Belgium, after the Norman con-
quest, the burghers of Flanders were able to draw on English
markets for the wool which they converted into the cloth that
gave their country fame in the fairs of Picardy and Champagne.*
We have here a typical example of Eatzel's "Stapellandem" or
"transit regions."
In very small localities the spread of language brought about
by economic changes has occasionally come under the scrutiny
of modern observers. At Grimault, in the ancient land of Bur-
gundy, the deterioration of the local patois due to intensive
working of quarries between 1860 and 1880 has been studied by
E. Blin.^ Laborers from remote districts were attracted by the
prospect of work. Some intermarried with the natives. The
influx of the foreign element was followed by the replacement
of the locality's vernacular by French.
In west-central Europe the line of traffic along the Ehine at
the end of the twelfth century ran from Cologne to Bruges along
the divide between French and Flemish. Lorraine, a region of
depression between the Archean piles of the Ardennes and
Vosges, invited access from east and west and was known to
historians as a Gallo-Eomanic market place of considerable
importance.^
In our time the river trade between Holland and Germany
along the Ehine has caused expansion of Dutch into German
territory as far as Wesel and Crefeld. The intruding language,
however, yields to German wherever the latter is present.*
Prevalence of French in parts of Switzerland is generally
ascribed to travel through certain Alpine passes." The area of
"E. Blanchard: La Plandre, Paris, 1906.
' Bull. Com. Trav. Hist, et Scien., Sec. Q4ogr., Vol. 29, 1914, p. xli.
■' J. Vidal de la Blache : Sltude sur la Valine Lorraine de la Meuae, Paris, 1908,
pp. 165-180.
» Cf. inset on pp. 63-64, Andree's Handatlas, 6th ed., 1915.
'"J. Brunhes: La G^ographie humaine, Paris, 1912, pp. 598-599.
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 327
human circulation between Lake Constance and Lake Geneva has
endowed Switzerland with 35 different dialects of German, 16
of French, 8 of Italian and 5 of Eomansh.^^ The penetration of
German into the Trentino has already been explained. In
Austria the entire valley of the Danube has provided continental
trade with one of its most important avenues. Attention is
caUed elsewhere to the Balkan peninsula as an intercontinental
highway. In a word, language always followed in the wake of
trade and Babel-like confusion prevailed along channels wherein
men and their marketable commodities flowed.
This retrospect also leads to the conclusion that the influence
of physical features in the formation of European nationalities
has been exerted with maximum intensity in the early periods
of their history. This was at the time when man's adaptation
to environment was largely blind and unconditioned by his own
will. Freedom from this physical thralldom is attained only
through man's practical knowledge of human necessities and a
sound vision of the welfare of his descendants. Manifestations
of nature can then be made subservient to the human will. In
this regard historians may eventually be induced to divide
their favorite study into two main periods characterized respec-
tively by man's submission to, or his intelligent control of,
environment. A proper understanding of this conception may
contribute to the establishment of frontiers with a view to
eliminating conflicts due to relics of national or historical incom-
patibility.
The development of modern boundaries should be regarded
as a process originating in barriers first provided by nature and
subsequently elaborated by the human will for its purposes.
Gradually however natural features of the land lose value as
national boundaries. This is the result of man's progress, of
the development of railways or wireless stations. It is the
removal of natural obstacles; the conquest of distance by speed.
All these advances tend to promote intercourse. They are
opening the vista of a day when an international boundary will
"L. W. Lyde: The Continent of Europe, London, 1913, p. 383.
328 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
have no greater importance in world affairs than the limiting
line of a city plot.
National frontiers, at best, become established by virtue of
historical accidents. At given times and in order to promote
fellowship among nations it becomes necessary to define the
areas over which certain principles of political jurisdiction are
recognized as valid by a given body of men. A national frontier
in the strictest sense of the term cannot, therefore, be limited
by the surface feature which has shaped its development. It
has generally outgroAvn this phase of its extension together with
the constantly increasing range of activity of the peoples it once
inclosed. Factors of an ethnological, economic or linguistic
nature must, therefore, be considered. Then only will the new
delimitation be entitled to be qualified as natural.
The preeminence of the linguistic factor set forth in these
pages may be illustrated concisely by the accepted recognition
of the "langue d'oil" as the national language of France by all
Frenchmen of the present day, although this would have been
impossible five centuries ago. Adoption of the linguistic crite-
rion in boundary delimitation becomes, therefore, a mere matter
of expediency. Its worth is not due to any assumed abstract
value of language. It is merely a practical maimer of settliug
divergences regarding national ownership of border territories.
It is of value because the guiding consideration in boundary
delimitation or revision is to eliminate future sources of conflict.
The European war is no exception to the fact that almost
every conflict of magnitude has been due, in part, to ill-adjusted
frontier lines. Slight regard for national aspirations seems to
have prevailed in the delimitations determined upon by the sig-
natory powers of every important treaty. The seed of ulterior
fighting was thus sown, for one of the main features of modern
history is the growth of national feeling as a dominating force
in human affairs.
With Europe rid of Napoleon, the treaty of Vienna was
framed by his allied foes in 1815 for the purpose of recasting
the political map. No heed was paid, however, to the legitimate
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 329
desire of smaller European nations to rule themselves. An
instance of some of the gross blunders committed then was the
merging of Belgium and Holland into one nationality in spite of
the protests of their representatives. Feelings of the bitterest
nature between Belgians and Dutch engendered by this act ulti-
mately forced a war between the two countries in 1830. It was
only after their separation that the enmity of the two peoples
gave way to cordial relations. Subsequent history has shown
that these two nations have often been of greater help to each
other while retaining separate political entity than under forced
union. In Italy also the progress made towards union by Italian-
speaking peoples was checked by this treaty and the country
split once more into a number of small independent states. The
assignation of Lombardy and Venetia to Austria led eventually
to the war of 1859.
In contrast with these cases, Germany's rise to power with
unprecedented rapidity in the history of the world is a striking
instance of the splendid development attainable within bound-
aries peopled by inhabitants of the same speech. With language
and an efficient army in control Prussia only needed a leader to
direct the gravitation of other German-speaking states within its
own orbit. Bismarck stepped in, the right man at the right time.
In 1864 he hurled the Prussian fighting machine against Denmark
and wrenched the provinces of Schleswig-Holstein from that
country. Two years later he turned on Austria and imposed
Prussian leadership on the German-speaking world. These war-
like moves gave Prussia the ascendency in the North German
Confederation. Only the states of southern Germany were now
needed to form the German Empire his patriotic mind had con-
ceived. To enlist their sympathies he found it necessary to
strike at France. His task was accomplished when a united Ger-
many annexed Alsace-Lorraine.
Bismarck's work was flawless as long as he added Germans
to the empire of his creation. He erred grievously, however, in
including a small number of Frenchmen with Alsace-Lorraine.
Had linguistic boundaries been respected at the treaty of Frank-
330 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
fort, and the Frencli districts of the conquered provinces left to
France, it is safe to say that Franco-German relations would not
have been marked by the lack of cordiality which has charac-
terized them since 1871. From whatever standpoint the subject
be approached, the inclusion of a handful of Frenchmen within
German territory was neither politic nor economic. Today Ger-
mans may well ask themselves whether the move was desirable.
The task of uniting all Germans under a single scepter was
not completed by Bismarck. Ten million Germans are still sub-
jects of the Austrian Emperor. But Austria as a political unit
stands on exceedingly shaky foundations. This is due to the
inclusion within its boundaries of 10 million Hungarians, 20
million Slavs and several million peoples of Eomance speech. As
a result, Austria is likely to be split into a number of inde-
pendent states. Should this dissolution come about, the natural
desire of Germans is to witness the crumbling of Austria's
pieces into Germany's lap. The union of all German-speaking
inhabitants of Europe into a single nation would then become an
accomplished fact.
Considered from the broad standpoint of human migrations
England, France and Italy may be regarded as understudies in
the drama staged on the old continent. The star performers are
Russia and Germany, and the issue is between these two nations.
The grouping of European nations with Eussia is a mere result
of Germany's preponderant strength. The end of the conflict
will necessarily witness the recasting of alliances along with
changes of frontier lines.
For at the bottom of it all the fight is between Slav and
Teuton. It is a grim and unrelenting struggle for existence that
is shaping itself into one of the world's fiercest racial contests.
The Slavic peoples are steadily pressing in from the east though
not with the barbarity which characterized their earlier onslaughts.
It is the turn of Russians, Poles, Bohemians, Slovenes, Serbians
and Croats, slowly to crowd on the descendants of the blue-eyed
flaxen-haired barbarians, representing Germanic peoples.
This Slavonic westerly push has always been blocked by the
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 331
leading power in the west. Prance opposed it in the Napoleonic
period. Great Britain checked it in the latter half of the nine-
teenth century. Today it is Germany's turn to stand the brunt
of its pressure. As matters stand both Germany and Eussia are
vigorous, young and fast-growing. The two peoples have taken
root on adjacent land like two sturdy oaks. They are now in the
stage at which the soil's nourishment at the border suffices only
for one. The weaker must wither. The Teuton is expanding
eastward, the Slav is spreading westward. Their main clashing-
zone happens to be the Balkan peninsula. The ceaseless agitation
in this area and its menace to the world's peace is a consequence
of the antagonism between the Pan-Slavic Colossus and the Pan-
German Titan.
Germany's expansion is a natural phenomenon. The country
is overpopulated. It must expand. The sea is a barrier to its
westerly expansion. The north is uninviting. The south is being
drained of its resources by active and intelligent inhabitants.
The "Drang nach Osten" of German Imperialism is therefore
inevitable. The line of least resistance points to the east, where
fertile territory awaits development.
Little wonder, then, that the attention of Germany's far-
seeing statesmen has been directed toward oriental countries,
whose wealth of natural resources and genial climate combine to
render them ideally attractive. The verdant vales and forest-
clad mountains of Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria abound with raw
material needed for Germany's increasing industries. Beyond
the narrow watercourse, intervening between Europe and Asia,
at the Dardanelles and Bosporus lies Asia Minor, a land mar-
velously rich in minerals and susceptible of great agricultural
development. Farther east the exceedingly fertile Mesopotamian
valley, once the granary of the civilized world, stretches between
the western Euphrates and Tigris, and bids fair to provide
humanity anew with vast supplies of cereals.
This is the vision which has floated alluringly before the
minds of German and Austrian statesmen, working hand in hand,
Austria paving the way in the Balkans, Germany forcing her-
332 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
self successfully in the control of Asia Minor, which, today is a
German colony in all but name. By their joint efforts, the
Teuton brothers have laid the foundation of an empire whose
northern shore is washed by - the Baltic and whose southern
boundary may extend to the Persian Gulf. The great obstacle
to this scheme of German expansion is constituted by the neigh-
borhood of Russia and the predominance of the Slavic element
in the population of the Balkan peninsula. Montenegrins, Ser-
bians, Macedonians and even Bulgarians dread annexation by
Germany.
At the end of the Balkan wars, Eussia had scored heavily
against Germany. An enlarged Serbia had been constituted
directly in the path of Teutonic advance. In addition to this
Slavic victory, every Balkan country had been strengthened con-
siderably by the new delimitation of their frontiers. For the
first time in their history, Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbians found
that their national border could be made to coincide with their
linguistic boundary. This national sifting is by no means com-
plete in the Balkan peninsula. But there is no question that
notable progress in the recognition of patriotic aspirations was
made as soon as the region was rid of its Turkish masters.
With the history of the past hundred years in mind, statesmen
engaged in the task of framing peace treaties may well heed the
lessons taught by political geography. They might conclude then
that greater possibilities of enduring peace exist whenever the
delimitation of new frontiers is undertaken with a view to segre-
gating linguistic areas within separate national borders. Com-
merce and industry will overcome ultimately these barriers and
pave the way to friendly international intercourse. These are
the lines along which intelligent statecraft will earn its reputa-
tion in the future.
The practical value of linguistic frontiers as national bound-
aries is due to their geographical growth. They are natural
because they are the result of human intercourse based largely on
economic needs. Having developed naturally, they correspond to
national aspirations. Such being the case, the task of frontier
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 333
delimitation can be made to assume a scientific form. Only in
the case of uninhabited or sparsely populated regions will an
artificial boundary — say, of the straight line type — prove ade-
quate. But in tenanted portions of the earth's surface where
human wills and desires come into play the problem cannot be
dismissed so lightly. The ordinary laws of science must then be
applied. This, after all, merely implies drawing on the stock of
common sense accumulated by the human race in the course of
its development. The clear duty of statesmen engaged in a
revision of boundaries is to put the varied interests at stake into
harmony with the facts of nature as they are revealed by geog-
raphy. This is possible because the science deals with the sur-
face of the earth considered as the field of man's activity. Its
data can be drawn upon just as successfully as the engineer
draws upon the energy of a waterfall or a ton of coal. Sound-
ness and permanency of the labor of delimitation can thus be
insured.
The preceding remarks should not be considered as implying
that a mountain, or a river, or even the sea are to be arbitrarily
regarded as frontiers. Lines of water-parting deserve particular
mention as having provided satisfactory national borders in his-
tory. But in boundaries each case should be treated upon its
own merits. There was a time when, in Cowper's words:
Mountains interposed
Make enemies of nations who had else
Like kindred drops been mingled into one.
And yet the passes of the Alps refute the poet's statement.
Their uniting function eventually overcame their estranging
power. The easterly spread of French language over the Vosges
concurs in the same trend of testimony. The imposing mass of
the Urals is no more of a parting than are the Appalachians.
To be pertinent, it will be necessary, in each instance, to con-
sider the complex operations of natural laws and the process of
fusing and building up of nationality brought about by their
agency.
334) FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The value of mountains in the scheme of useful boundary
demarcation has been attested in the European war. Towns and
villages sheltered behind rocky uplifts have suffered relatively
little from the devastation which has marked the struggle in low-
lands and plains. The fact is true for the Vosges mountains,
the Trentino uplands and the Carpathian region. Although
fighting of an exceedingly bitter character was maintained in
each of these areas, the loss in property was never extreme.
This is one of the many instances where land configuration lends
itself advantageously to delimitation work. The need of trust-
worthy geographical information in partitioning and dividing up
territory is obvious. Upon this basis only can boundary revision
be satisfactorily pursued.
The long borderland of the French language which marks the
northern and eastern boundary of French lands from the. English
Channel to the Mediterranean, lies unruffled by political agitation
in its southeastern stretch, where Italian and French become'
interchangeable languages. Modifications in this section of the
political frontier hardly need be considered. Their occurrence,
if any, will probably come as peaceful adjustments dictated by
economic reasons. To the north, however, the line has a history
tainted by deeds of violence. In this stretch it forms the divide
between two civilizations, the French and the German. These,
although having flourished side by side, are distinctly opposed
in spirit and method. Here, begiiming north of the Swiss border,
frontier changes appear inevitable.
In the Vosges uplift, certain facts of geographical import
have direct bearing on the international boundary problem. The
very occurrence of a mountain in this zone of secular conflict
has a significance of its own. Aggression has generally made
its way up the steep slope and, since the treaty of Frankfort of
1871, strategic advantages lie on the German side. Moreover the
crest line shows French linguistic predominance.
In Lorraine, the steady expansion of French over German
territory reveals the assimilative capacity of French civilization.
France, unable to send forth colonists because of her lack of
The American Geographical Sociefy of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, PI. IX
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 335
numbers, nevertheless contains within herself by virtue of superior
civilization the ability to absorb the foreigner. Of this, evidence
IS to be found in the Alsatian's sympathy for France no less
than in the unanimous verdict of impartial foreigners. Belgium's
unhesitating rally to the French cause in the present war was
also the spontaneous response to the greater cultural appeal
emanating from France. The fact is attested by history since
the earliest times, for much of the civilization of Germanic
peoples has invariably taken its source in the inspiring ideals of
the wonderfully endowed inhabitants of French territory.
Upon this historical basis, the intermediate zone between
French and German languages might be converted into a number
of buffer-states which, from the Alps to the North Sea, would
represent the borderland of the central mountain zone and the
northern plain. Switzerland, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg and
Belgium have been weak spots of European diplomacy on account
of geographical circumstances. A just appreciation of this fact
alone can provide against a continuance of past weakness.
Whatever the result of the present war, boundary rectifica-
tions from the easternmost wedge of Switzerland to the head of
the Adriatic may be expected. They were the subject of nego-
tiations between Austria and Italy prior to the latter country's
entry into the war in 1915. Austria at that time proposed to
cede to Italy a portion of the Trentino or "Siid-Tirol" as it is
iUogieally called by the Germans. The territory which Austria
was willing to abandon to prevent Italy from joining the Allies
coincided roughly with the extension of Italian language north of
the Italian frontier. Italian demands presented then were based,
however, upon strategic necessities as well as linguistic consid-
erations. Italy therefore outlined a frontier much nearer to the
Adriatic watershed.
The Italian claims may be summarized as follows : " From
Switzerland the present boundary line is to be maintained to
Mount Cevedale, whence it is to strike east to lUmenspitze and
" D. W. Freshfield : The Southern Frontiers of Austria, Oeogr. Joum., Vol. 46,
1915, pp. 414-436.
336 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
thence northeast to Klausen passing through Gargazon. From
Klausen the line leads to the south until latitude 46° 30' is
reached, after which it resumes its easterly course, passes
through Tofana and reaches the old boundary at about 4 miles
northeast of Cortina d'Ampezzo, The population of the last-
named district, formerly Ladin, is now Italian. This boundary
Fio. 67 — Sketch map showing proposed changes in the Austro-Italian frontier
according to Austrian and Italian views.
revision will give political validity to the Italian Alps, a region
which is geographically Italian.
Through this line the transfer of the command of the passes
to Italy would become an accomplished fact. It would mean that
the entrance to the Vintschgau, the valley of the Upper Adige
and of the gorge of the Eisack at Klausen with the issue of the
Brenner and Pustherthal railways would be controlled by Italy.
Moreover the frontier has the merit of being identical with the
old bishopric boundary maintained from 1106 a.d. to the Eefor-
mation. The flaw, if any, in such an eventual settlement might
be found in the fact that the Botzen district, although econom-
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 337
ically Italian, is Teutonic in speech and feeling. The rest of the
population in the Trentino favors annexation to Italy.
The Austrian offer to Italy diverges from the Italian project
at nimenspitze " and strikes south, carefully avoiding abandon-
ment of territory of German speech to Italy, In doing this, how-
ever, it leaves some of the Italian-speaking northeastern districts
of the Noce valley in Austrian territory. All the mountain out-
lets which open into the Adige valley are retained by Austria.
This from the Italian standpoint is inadmissible, as it would
leave the southern country exposed to aggression from the north.
On the basis of the Austrian census for 1910 the changes in
population consequent upon such a boundary revision are as
follows :
Italians and
Lading Germans
In territory offered by Austria 366,837 13,892
In territory retained by Austria 18,863 511^222
In case the Italian claim is granted the following changes will
result :
Italians and
Ladins Germans
In new Italian territory 371,477 74 OOO
In territory retained by Austria 14,229 440 805
A margin of coastland along the eastern Adriatic is mainly
Serbian in nationality though Italian in culture. It was once the
nest of pirates who terrorized the Adriatic and Mediterranean.
We catch historical glimpses of their retreats to the admirable
shelters teeming along the coastland which skirts the Dalmatian
mountains. The fringe of long islands deployed like a protecting
screen enabled their vessels to evade capture. This feature of
the region still exercises its influence, for a strong naval power
in control of such a base might easily dominate the Mediter-
ranean lane of traffic between east and west. The political fate
of the eastern shores of the Adriatic cannot therefore be sun-
dered from their geographical aspect.
" K. von Pfaundler: Osterreichiseh-italienische Grenzfragen, Pet. Mitt., Vol. 61,
1915, pp. 217-223.
338 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
The Italians have been exhibited elsewhere in these pages as
a vanishing min ority throughout this Dalmatian coast. We are
in the presence of Serbians, disguised under various appella-
tions, among which the most familiar are Croatians, Slavonians,
Bosnians, Herzegovinians, Montenegrins, Dalmatians and lUyri-
ans. All these elements were susceptible of being strongly knit
into a single nationality. The inclusion of a sympathizing, though
numerically small, Slovene group could only introduce wholesome
competition among them.
Nationalism in this region was awakened by French achieve-
ments and influences at the time of its conquest by Napoleon's
armies. The French provinces of Illyria, which included Slovene
territory on the north and extended as far south as Montenegro,
were converted in 1816 into a kingdom of the same name which
survived, up to 1846, as part of the Austrian Empire. The taste
of political independence acquired by southern Slavs in that
interval of time never lost its savor. Schemes for the formation
of an independent Jugoslavia were naturally thrown into sharper
relief through the medium of linguistic unity.
Such a south Slavic political entity must necessarily be iden-
tified with Serbia. Its extent is admirably defined by geo-
graphical, ethnographical and linguistic lines all of which coin-
cide, thereby pointing irrefutably to national unity. The Drave,
Morava, Drina and Lim rivers, with the Adriatic Sea, encircle
this genuine Serbian area. It comprises the entire system of
parallel ranges which form the mountainous rearland of the
Adriatic. Because of its arduous character the region was never
thoroughly mastered by foreigners. Invaders established them-
selves in force only along the sections of international highways
which cross the land. The rest remained accessible to the Serbian
natives only.
The defining of an independent Hungary presents little con-
fusion if approached from the main highway of geography.
Agreement between the land and its inhabitants appears to exist
here, for the Magyar is, in the first place, a lowlander accustomed
to live within the precincts of a fertUe plain. He has always
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 339
shurmed the mountaiii and is rarely to be met above the 600-foot
contour. As soon as the hills to the north of the vast field of his
birth are attained he disappears, leaving a few officials to repre-
sent him. Slovak, Eumanian and Euthenian hillmen then come
upon the scene. On the western side, west of the Eaab, the
heights drained by the river are peopled by Germans and, in spite
of a complex boundary zone, a convenient line of demarcation
could be drawn upon the basis of elevation. Southward the old-
time utility of the Drave as the dividing line between Croat and
Hungarian remains unimpaired to this day. In the east, how-
ever, around the confluence of this river with the Danube and
towards the Theiss valley the swamp lands have repelled the
ease-loving Hungarian as effectively as the mountains to the east
and north. The Serb, less particular in his choice of residence,
advanced northward as far as the swampy land extends. In this
section any physical map contains the data for a territorial
division.
"With regard to Transylvania, conditions may be summarized
as follows : the region is scantily populated, valleys constituting
centers of human habitation almost exclusively. The inhabitants
are overwhelmingly Eumanians." The dominating Hungarian
element inhabits isolated communities in their midst. This
separation of the rival peoples is of the utmost interest in
boundary revision, for which it provides a reliable geographical
basis. Wallis has ingeniously shown ^^ that a line separating the
majority of Hungarians from Eumanians can be obtained by
taking language as a guide and that this is possible because
there exists no mixing of peoples in the eastern borderland of
Hungarian language. In reality, throughout Hungary the only
element that has insinuated itself in the midst of Hungarian,
Eumanian or Slav populations is the German. This element is
generally absorbed except where present in large numbers. The
Magyar, however, has never mingled with his neighbors. One is
"B. C. Wallis: Distribution of Nationalities in Hungary, Qeogr. Journ., Vol. 52,
1916, No. 3, pp. 177-189.
" Loc. cit.
340 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
almost led to seek the reason for his aloofness in his Asiatic origin.
Poland also has its natural place in the European political
system. The majority of Poles live in Russian Poland. Out of
a total of over 20,000,000 Poles about 12,000,000 are found in the
"governments" or administrative districts created by Russia in
the sections of Poland within Russia's boundaries. These
districts are ten in number and adjoin each other. Geographically
they form a unit — the westernmost appendage of the vast united
Russian territory which aggregates between one-sixth or one-
seventh of the total land surface of the world. Detachment of
this Polish section from Russia and its creation into part of an
autonomous Poland is practicable without serious loss to Russian
unity. Slavic solidarity would in fact be consolidated if Poland
were constituted a sovereign state.
To Germany, however, an autonomous Poland which would
encompass the million Poles living in the Kaiser's empire implies
abandonment of a territory which reaches far into the heart of
the country. The Polish strip ends less than a hundred miles
east of Berlin. The province of Posen, a considerable portion
of Silesia, a narrow strip of West Prussia reaching the Baltic
west of Danzig and the Masurian Lakes district are peopled by
Poles. Furthermore, and this is of capital importance in German
eyes. East Prussia which is German by language and tradition,
as well as Prussian to the core, would become isolated from the
main mass of the German-speaking people. It is improbable that
such a cession of territory will take place as long as Germany
has the power to prevent it. It need only be remembered that
the first partition of Poland was engineered by Frederick the
Great merely to join East Prussia to the rest of his kingdom.
Against this last fact, however, the imperative necessity for an
independent Poland to obtain an outlet on the Baltic will always
prevail in anti-German circles.
Nature therefore points to the existence of a real German
menace to Polish autonomy. It is needless to minimize the sig-
nificance of the points at issue. Prussia, the dominant state in
the German nation, will never consent to the impairment of her
SUMMARY AND APPLICATIONS 341
territorial unity by the surrender of her Polish sections. On the
other hand the reconstruction of Poland must be complete if the
creation of a Balkanic state of affairs west of the Gulf of Danzig
is to be avoided. A partial reunion of Polish-speaking groups
under an autonomous government would be the prelude to
irredentist questions. This however is precisely what an enlight-
ened world is seeking to prevent.
In reality the German nation would be the gainer by the
creation of a reunited Polish state. No better barrier to Eus-
sia's westerly advance in Europe could be devised. Conversely
Teutonic encroachments on Slavic territory — bound as they
inevitably are to be attended by bloodshed — ^would be effectively
arrested. A buffer state between Eussia and Germany is the
safest guarantee of peace between the two nations. All the inex-
tricable tangles in which Europe has been involved by Polish
problems can be unraveled by the restoration of Polish national
entity. The problem requires solution for the sake of the peace
of the world.
The problems arising along the remaining linguistic bound-
aries have been exhibited in earlier chapters and require but
little mention here. In Schleswig an extension of Denmark's
political frontier as far south as the Danish language prevails
would be welcomed as the harbinger of lasting harmony between
Danes and Germans. The historical frontier between the Danish
duchy and Holstein could be utilized to advantage in this change.
In this, as in other cases, the principles of geography, modified
by national aspirations and economic needs, must in the last
resort be recognized as practical and applicable. Bohemia, which
has been shown to be splendidly laid off on a physical map,
deserves political independence because it is endowed with geo-
graphic individuality. This method of solving the problems
which for centuries have burdened Europe with strife would,
like the splitting of Austria into national fragments, mark an
improvement in the lot of a notable proportion of the population
of Europe. New impetus would be granted to the development
of national sentiment. Humanity owes much to the free play of
342 FRONTIERS OF LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY
this feeling. The claims of world brotherhood have received
greater attention through its existence. The energies of sub-
merged nationalities have hitherto been absorbed by the struggle
for survival. Belief from this stress will be accompanied by
respect for alien rights instead of hatred of the oppressor.
Throughout the nineteenth century, as well as in the beginning
of the twentieth, reconstruction of nationalities was effected on
a linguistic basis. The part played by language during that
period is of tantamount importance to the religious feeling which
formerly caused many a destructive war. Practically all the
wars of the last hundred years are the outcome of three great
constructive movements which led to the unification of Germany
and of Italy as well as to the disentanglement of Balkan nationali-
ties. These were outward and visible signs of the progress of
democratic ideals. The Congress of Vienna failed to provide
Europe with political stability because popular claims were
ignored during the deliberations. At present, inhabitants of lin-
guistic areas under alien rule are clamoring for the right to
govern themselves. The carrying out of plebiscites under inter-
national supervision can often be relied upon to satisfy their
aspirations and serve as a guide to frontier rearrangements.
All told, the growing coincidence of linguistic and political
boundaries must be regarded as a normal development. It is
a form of order evolved out of the. chaos characterizing the origin
of human institutions. The delimitation of international fron-
tiers is as necessary as the determination of administrative
boundaries or city lines. Human organization requires it and
there is no reason why it should not be undertaken with fair
regard to the wishes and feelings of all affected. For nations,
like individuals, are at their best only when they are free, that
is to say when the mastery of their destiny is in their o^Yn
hands.
APPENDIX A
GERMAN SETTLEMENTS IN EUSSIA
Colonies of Germans in Russia are found mainly in the Baltic prov-
inces and around the banks of the Volga. According to the census of 1897
the German residents of the governments of Livonia, Kurland, Esthonia
and St. Petersburg numbered 229,084. The majority of this northern
element is distributed along the shores of the Gulf of Riga.
The banks of the Volga were first colonized by Germans in 1763 after
a proclamation issued by Empress Catherine II inviting foreigners to settle
on either side of the river in the environs of Saratoff and Samara and as
far as Tzaritzin. The distress that followed the Seven Years' War in Ger-
many determined a number of families of the afflicted provinces to seek a
better lot on Russian soil. By the year 1768 there had been founded 102
German settlements containing a total population of 27,000 inhabitants.^
The newcomers had to face considerable hardships. Many of them were
neither farmers nor peasants. Their endurance was taxed by the rigor of
the climate. Insecurity of life and property prevailed as badly as in their
devastated motherland. In 1774 rebel bands led by Jemelian Pontgatcheff
wrought havoc and ruin in the new districts. Two years later hordes of
Kirghiz nomads laid waste the land again and carried off a number of the
emigrants as slaves. This state of affairs lasted until the last decades of
the nineteenth century. The Tatar raiders were attracted mainly by the
cattle of the colonists. The value of horses, camels and cattle stolen between
1875 and 1882 is estimated at 330,000 rubles.^
It is estimated that fully five million rubles were spent by the Rus-
sian government to plant these foreign colonies. But no onerous terms were
imposed on the settlers. A head tax of three rubles constituted their only
pecuniary obligation to the state. Furthermore, a liberal administration
was provided for their settlements. Each village was ruled by an assembly
recruited from among its inhabitants.
Unfortunately for the development of these communities the Russian
system of collective ownership known as the "mir" was instituted. Under
this form of tenure aU land becomes the property of the village. Each
male inhabitant is temporarily entitled to a share of the whole area and an
exchange of plots is made every ten years. Each village then receives a
new fraction and fresh lots are apportioned to those who have come of
' P. Clerget: Les Colonies Allemandes de la Volga, La G6ogr., Feb. 1909.
' H. Pokorny: Die Deutschen an der Volga, Deutsche Erde, 1908, No. 4, pp. 138-144.
343
344 APPENDIX A
age during the decade. This method of ownership does not lead to develop-
ment and generally retards rather than promotes agricultural progress.
Furthermore the land is none too fertile. Uncertainty, therefore is
today the common lot of many of the descendants of the old German set-
tlers. Many prefer to engage in trade rather than in agriculture. The
natural increase of the population has brought a certain amount of con-
gestion which has resulted in emigration. Effort is made by German mis-
sionary societies to induce these Kussian Germans to return to the land of
their fathers. The Russian government on the other hand provides them
with ample facilities and inducements to settle in Siberia. The region
around Tomsk contains a number of villages built up by this emigration.
Many however prefer to emigrate to the United States where they find a
happier lot. Settlements composed entirely of. Volga Germans exist in
Wisconsin.
The old German settlers had held steadfastly to their religion. Their
descendants have also clung to the faith of their fathers, thus creating a
totally separate community in the midst of Orthodox Russia. Their earliest
schools had been founded as annexes of their churches and education had
been a great factor in the maintenance of language and religion. In 1891
the use of Russian was rendered obligatory in all educational institutions
of the Empire. Nevertheless this measure cannot be said to have con-
tributed to weaken the German character of the communities. From Ger-
many itself manifestations of interest towards these faraway centers of
German custom have always been keen. Neither has support been lacking.
According to recent statistics the Germans inhabiting the banks of the
Volga number close to half a million, distributed equally on both banks of
the great inland river. The ethnic type of these Germans has been main-
tained with remarkable purity and their language contains obsolete forms
dating from the eighteenth century. The names of the largest communities
and the number of their inhabitants are as follows :
Saratoff 12,500
Norka 13,416
Frank 11,700
Grimm or Lesnoi Karamish 10,761
Baltzer Katharinenstadt or Baronsk 10,134
APPENDIX B
The Balkan States Before and After the Wars op 1912-131
AREAS {in square miles)
_ Percentage of
State Former New Increase or
,, , ^■'6* area Decrease
Montenegro 3,506 5,600 +60^
^^b^°^* - 10,900 _
^^^^^* 18,650 33,600 +80^
Rumania 50,720 54,300 + 74
S'^lg^a 37,201 43,300 +16?
Greece 24,966 46,600 +87^
Turkey in Europe 65,370 9,700 — 85^
POPULATION
Prior to
State ■\^•a^
Montenegro ' 285,000
Albania —
Serbia 2,960,000
Rumania 7,250,000
Bulgaria 4,340,000
Greece 2,670,000
Turkey in Europe 6,130,000
After the
War
500,000
900,000
4,300,000
7,400,000
4,800,000
4,600,000
1,600,000
' Joerg, W. L. G. ; The New Boundaries of the Balkan States and their Significance,
Bull, of Amer. Geogr. 800., Vol. 45, 1913, p. 819.
345
APPENDIX C
Classification op Languages Spoken in Europe
Group
A. Cei/tic
Branches
B. Romanic
C. Germanic
Scandinavian
Germanic
D. Slavic
Western
Eastern
E. Lettic
F. Hellenic
G. Illyeic
H. Indic
Languages
1. Gaelic
a. Irish
b. Highland Scotch
c. Manx
2. Cymric
a. Welsh
b. Low Breton
1. French
2. Italian
3. Spanish
4. Provengal
5. Portuguese
6. Romansh or Churwaelsh
7. Eumatiian
1. Swedish
2. Danish
3. Icelandic
1. High German
2. Low German
3. Dutch, including Flemish
4. Frisian
5. English
1. Polish
2. Bohemian
3. Wend
1. Russian, including Rutheniau
2. Bulgarian
3. Serbian, including Croatian
1. Lettish
2. Lithuanian
Greek
Albanian
Gipsy or Romany
346
APPENDIX C
347
In addition to the above the following non-Indo-European languages
are spoken in Europe :
Family
Turanian-
Group
riNNic
Branch
Tchudic
Language
1. Finnic
2. Esthonian
3. Tchud
4. Lapp
5. Voth
6. Livonian
Permian
1. Votiak
2. Sirian
3. Permiak
Volgaic
1. Tchuvash
2. Mordoin
3. Cheremiss
Ugric
1. Hungarian
2. Samoyed
Caucasian-
Tatabio
Turkish
1. Lesghian
2. Circassian
Basq-ue
Basque or Euskara
APPENDIX D
A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aitoff, D. Peuples et langues de la Russie. Ann. de Geogr., Vol. 15, 1909, pp. 92-5.
Andr6, L. See Bourgeois, E.
Andree, R. Nationalitatsverhaltnisse und Spraehgrenze in Bohmen. Ver. Erdk.,
Leipzig, 1869, pp. 51-88.
Andree, R. Die Grenzen der niederdeutschen Sprache. Globus, Vol. 59, 1891,
pp. 29-31, 41-43.
Andree, R. Die Volkergrenzen in Frankreich. Globus, Vol. 36, 1879, pp. 6-10,
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Forseh, z. deuts. Landes- und Volkskunde, Vol. 8, 1894. — ^Zur Greschichte des
Deutsehtums im Elsass und im Vogesengebiet, Ibid., Vol. 19, 1897.
Witte, H. Wendische Bevolkerungsreste in Mecklenburg. Forseh. z. deuts. Landes-
und Volkskunde, Vol. 16, 1905, p. 124.
Woods, H. C. Communications in the Balkans. Geogr. Journ., Vol. 47, 1916, pp.
265-293.
Wutte, M. Das Deutschtum im Osterreichischen Kiistenland. Deutsche Erde, Vol.
8, 1909, pp. 202, 229.
Xenopol, A. D. Les Koumains au Moyen-Age. Paris, 1885. Histoire des Roumains
de la Dacie Trajane. Paris, 1896.
Zaborowski, S. Les Peuples aryens d'Asie et d'Europe. Paris, 1908.
Zemmrich, J. Deutschen und Slawen in den osterreichischen Sudetenlandem.
Deutsche Erde, Vol. 2, 1903, pp. 1-4.
Zemmrich, J. Spraehgrenze und Deutschtum in Bohmen. Brunswick, 1902.
ZimmerU, J. Die deutsch-franzosische Spraehgrenze in der Schweiz; I. Teil, Die
Schweia. Forseh. z. deuts. Lcmdes- wnd Volkskunde, Vol. 8, 1894.
Zimmerli, J. Die deutsch-franzosische Spraehgrenze in der Schweiz; I. TeU, Die
Spraehgrenze im Jura. Basel, 1891. II. Teil, Die Spraehgrenze im Mittel-
lande, in den Freiburger, Waadtlander und Berner Alpen, Ibid., 1895. III.
Teil, Die Spraehgrenze im Wallis, Ibid., 1899.
Zsigmond, B. A Magyar Szentkorona orszagainak neprajzi iskolai fali Terkepe.
1:600,000. Budapest, 1909.
APPENDIX E
KEY TO PLACE NAMES
Aa, river, lat. 51°, PI. I.
Abanj, town, lat. 48° 50', Fig. 48.
Abbateggio, town, lat. 42° 14', Pig. 33.
Abruzzi, province, lat. 42°, Fig. 33.
AbuUonia, lake, south of Moudania, lat.
40° 12', PI. VII.
Acquaviva, town, lat. 40° 53', Fig. 33.
Ada Bazar, town, lat. 40° 45', PL VII.
Adalia, town and bay, lat. 36° 53', PI. V.
Adana, town, lat. 37°, PI. V.
Aden, gulf of, lat. 12° 46'. See inset map :
" Extension of the Hejaz line toward
Mecca." PI. V.
Adige, valley, lat. 45° 40', Figs. 30, 67.
Adrianople, town, lat. 41° 41', Fig. 47.
Adriatic, sea, PI. IX. See also Figs. 47,
48.
.aigean, sea, PI. V.
Agaro, district, lat. 46° 15', Fig. 22.
Aidin, town, lat. 37° 48', PI. V.
Aire, town, lat. 50° 38', PI. I.
Ala, town, lat. 45° 50', Fig. 30.
Alagna, village, lat. 45° 52', Fig. 22.
Aland, isds., lat. 60° 15', PI. IX.
Albania, state, lat. 41°, Fig. 53.
Albula, river, lat. 46° 40', Fig. 67.
Aleppo, town, lat. 36° 10', PI. V, VI, VII.
Alexandretta, town, lat. 36° 35', PI. V, VI,
VII.
Alghero, town, lat. 40° 40', Fig. 43.
Allenstein, town, lat. 53° 45', Fig. 38.
Alpes-Maritimes, dept., lat. 43° 45', Fig.
22.
Alsace, province, lat. 48° 50', PI. II, IX.
Amasia, tovm, lat. 40° 39', PI. VII.
Anderlecht (Brussels), lat. 50° 51', Fig.
14.
Andermatten, village (Italian: La
Chiesa), lat. 46° 20', Fig. 22.
Andreasfalva, town, lat. 47° 50', Fig. 44.
Angeln, mts., 54° 35', Fig. 35.
Angora, town, lat. 39° 56', PI. V, VII.
Anniviers, valley, lat. 46° 15', Fig. 18.
Antigorio, val., lat. 46° 10', Fig. 22.
Antioch, town, lat. 36° 10', PI. VII.
Antivari, town, lat. 42° 8', Fig. 53.
Aosta, town, lat. 45° 44', PI. IX, Fig. 22.
Aquitaine, region, lat. 44° 50', Fig. 3.
Arad, town, lat. 46° 13', Fig. 48.
Arax, river, lat. 39° 27', PI. VII.
Arghana, town, lat. 38° 25', PI. V.
Argyrocastro, district, lat. 40° 7', Fig. 53.
Arlon, town, lat. 49° 42', PI. I.
Armenia, province, PI. VII, VIII.
Armentierea, town, lat. 50° 43', PI. I.
Armorica, region, lat. 48° 10', Fig. 3.
Arnfels, town, lat. 46° 42', Fig. 31.
Arnsberg, town, lat. 51° 24', Pig. 7.
Arta, river, lat. 39° 20', Fig. 53.
Asiago, town, lat. 45° 52', Fig. 30.
Aspropotamos, river, lat. 39° 22', Fig. 53.
Aatico, river, lat. 45° 40', Fig. 25.
Augsburg, town, lat. 48° 52', PI. IX, Fig.
30.
Augustow, town, lat. 53° 30', Fig. 38.
Baden, grand duchy, lat. 48° 30', Fig. 7.
Bagdad, town, lat. 33° 21', PI. V.
Balearic, isds., lat. 39°, Fig. 43.
Banat, province, lat. 45° 53', Fig. 38.
Baren Kopf, mt., lat. 47° 47', PI. II.
Bars, town, lat. 48° 15', Fig. 48.
Basra, town, lat. 30° 30', PI. V.
Bautzen, town, lat. 51° 11', Fig. 41.
Bavaria, kingdom, lat. 49°, Fig. 7.
Beaulard, town, lat. 45° 3', Fig. 21.
Becherek, town, lat. 45° 27', Fig. 48.
Beirut, town, lat. 33° 54', PI. V.
Belcamen, town, lat. 40° 40', Fig. 53.
Belfort, town, lat. 47° 38', PI. II, Fig. 18.
Belgrade, town, lat. 44° 47', PI. IX.
Belluno, town, lat. 46° 8', Fig. 67.
Benkovac, town, lat. 44° 2', Fig. 48.
Berane, town, lat. 42° 47', Fig. 53.
Berat, town, lat. 40° 43', Fig. 53.
Bereg, town, lat. 47°, Fig. 38.
Beskid, mts., lat. 49° 30', PI. IV.
Bessarabia, province, lat. 47° 20', PI. III.
B6v6ra, valley, lat. 43° 50', Fig. 22.
Bielostok, town, lat. 53° 10', PI. IV.
Bielsk, town, lat. 52° 50', PI. IV.
Bienne, town, lat. 47° 9', Fig. 18.
358
APPENDIX E
Birnbaum, town, lat. 52° 37', PI. IV.
Bistritza, valley, lat. 40° 30', Fig. 53.
Black Drin, river, lat. 42°, Fig. 53.
Black Forest, mountain region, lat. 48°
20', Fig. 7.
Blatza, town, lat. 40° 31', Fig. 53.
Bohmerwald, mt., lat. 49° 0', Fig. 48.
Bohtan, river, lat. 38°, PI. VII.
Boitsfort, town, lat. 50° 48', Fig. 14.
Bolchen, town, lat. 49° 10', PL II.
Boli, town, lat. 40° 45', PI. V.
Bolzano, (Bozen), town, lat. 46° 30',
Figs. 30, 67.
Bomst, town, lat. 52° 12', PI. IV.
Bosnia, province, lat. 44° 20', Fig. 48.
Bothnia, gulf, lat. 62°, Fig. 38.
Botzen, (Bozen), town, lat. 46° 30', Figs.
30, 67.
Boulogne, town, lat. 50° 43', PI. I.
Bousson, town, lat. 44° 55', Fig. 21.
Boyana, river, lat. 41° 52', Fig. 53.
Brandenburg, province, lat. 52° 26', Fig. 7.
Branjevo, town, lat. 44° 40', Fig. 48.
Bredizza, town, lat. 41° 50', Fig. 53.
Brenner, pass, lat. 47° 3', Fig. 30.
Brenta, river, lat. 45° 26', Fig. 25.
Breslau, town, lat. 51° 6', PI. IV.
Bressanone, town, see Brixen.
Briancon, town, lat. 44° 50', Fig. 21.
Brieg, town, lat. 50° 50', PI. IV.
Brittany, province, lat. 48° 20', Fig. 3.
Brixen, town, lat. 46° 41', Fig. 30.
Bromberg, town, lat. 53° 7', PI. IV.
Broye, river, lat. 46° 45', Fig. 18.
Bruche, river, lat. 48° 30', PI. II.
Bruneco, town, lat. 46° 51', Fig. 30.
Brusa, town, lat. 40° 11', PI. V.
Brux, town, lat. 50° 33', Fig. 48.
Buccari, bay, lat. 45° 18', Fig. 48.
Budapest, lat. 47° 29', PI. IX.
Bukovina, province, lat. 48° 0', Fig. 44.
Bukschoja, town, lat. 47° 37', Fig. 44.
Burgundian lands, (see Burgundy), lat.
47°, Fig. 3.
Busi, is., lat. 43° 8', Pig. 48.
Cairo, city, lat. 30° 2', PI. V.
Galliano, town, lat. 45° 56', Fig. 30.
Canza, village, lat. 46° 25', Fig. 22.
Carinthia, lat. 47°, PI. III.
Carniola, province, lat. 45° 58', Fig. 48.
PI. III.
Carpathian Mts., lat. 48° 30', PI. IV.
Cascanditella, town, lat. 42° 16', Fig. 33.
Casotto, town, lat. 45° 53', Fig. 67.
Cattaro, town, lat. 42° 23', Fig. 48.
Caucasus, region, lat. 44°, Fig. 38.
Cazza, is., lat. 42° 55', Fig. 48.
Cesane, town, lat. 44° 57', Fig. 21.
Cevedale, mt., lat. 46° 29', Fig. 67.
Chalcydic peninsula, lat. 40° 25', Pig. 53.
Champlas du Col, town, lat. 44° 56', Fig.
21.
Chanak, town, lat. 40° 9', PI. VI.
Charmoille, town, lat. 47° 20', Fig. 18.
Chernikov, city, lat. 51° 29', Fig. 38.
Chorlu, river, lat. 41° 12', Fig. 47.
Cilician Gate, lat. 37° 30', PI. VII., see
inset : " Western Asia showing direction
of Main Mountain Ranges."
Clabecq, lat. 50° 40', Pig. 14.
Glavieres, town, lat. 44° 55', Figs. 21, 22.
dementi, pass, lat. 42° 30', Fig. 53.
Gollecroce, town, lat. 41° 45', Pig. 33.
Colmar, town, lat. 48° 6', PI. II.
Cologne, town, lat. 50° 56', PI. IX.
Constantinople, city, lat. 41°, PI. VII.
Corfu, is., lat. 39° 37', Fig. 53, PI. V, VI.
Cormons, town, lat. 45° 57', Fig. 31.
Cortina d'Ampezzo, pass, lat. 46° 31', Fig.
67.
Courtaron, town, lat. 47° 28', Fig. 18.
Cracow, town, lat. 50° 4', PI. IV.
Grasna, lat. 48° 2', Fig. 44.
Crefeld, town, lat. 51° 21', PI. IX.
Cremnitza, river, lat. 40°, Pig. 53.
Crete, is., lat. 35° 15', PI. V.
Croatia, province, lat. 45° 40', Fig. 48.
Cupello, town, lat. 42° 5', Fig. 33.
Curzola, is., lat. 43°, Fig. 48.
Czernowitz, town, lat. 48° 17', Fig. 44.
Dalmatia, province, lat. 44°, Fig. 48.
Damascus, city, lat. 33° 30', PI. V, VII.
Dangli, mts., lat. 40° 30', Fig. 53.
Danzig, town, lat. 54° 35', PI. IV.
Dedeagatch, town, lat. 40° 55', Fig. 47.
Delfimont, town, lat. 47° 25', Fig. 18.
Delvino, town, lat. 40°, Pig. 53.
Demir-Hissar, district, lat. 41° 12', Fig. 53.
Dent d'H^rens, mt., lat. 45° 59', Fig. 22.
Deutsche-Oth, town, lat. 49° 28', PI. II.
Devinska Novaves, town, lat. 48° 18', Fig.
48.
Devoli, river, lat. 40° 55', Fig. 53.
Diex, town, lat. 46° 48', Fig. 31.
APPENDIX E
359
Dinaric Alps, mts., lat. 44°, Fig. 48.
Dineir, town, lat. 38° 5', PI. V.
Dirschen, (Dirschau or Terzew), lat. 54°
9', PI. IV.
Dnieper, river, lat. 49°, Fig. 38.
Dobrac, town, lat. 46° 45', Fig. 31.
Dobrudja, province, lat. 44° 20', Fig. 47.
Dodecanesia, isds., lat. 36°, PI. V.
Doire Baltfie, river, lat. 45° 15', Fig. 22.
Doire Ripaire, river, lat. 45° 10', Figs. 21,
22.
Doliano, town, lat. 40° 2', Fig. 53.
Dolomite Alps, mts., lat. 46° 25', Fig. 67.
Domodossola, town, lat. 46° 8', Fig. 22.
Don, river, lat. 47° 30', Fig. 38.
Dorpat, town, lat. 58° 17', Fig. 38.
Dortmund, town, lat. 51° 31', Fig. 7.
Douane, town, lat. 47° 10', Fig. 18.
Drama, basin, lat. 41°i 6', Fig. 47.
Drave, river, lat. 45° 50', Fig. 48.
Drin, river, lat. 41° 50', Fig. 53.
Drinissa, river, lat. 42° 12', Fig. 53.
Drino, gulf, lat. 41° 50', Fig. 53.
Dugopolje, town, lat. 45° 10', Fig. 48.
Duino, town, lat. 45° 50', Fig. 31.
Duisburg, town, lat. 51° 26', Fig. 7.
Dukla, town, lat. 49° 26', PI. IV.
Dulcigno, town, lat. 41° 54', Fig. 53.
Dunkirk, town, lat. 51° 7', PI. I.
Durazzo, cape and town, lat. 41° 18', Fig.
53.
Dusseldorf, town, lat. 51° 13', Fig. 7.
Dux, town, lat. 50° 47', Fig. 48.
East Prussia, province, lat. 34°, PI. IV.
Eisack, valley, lat. 46° 30', Fig. 67.
Eisenau, town, lat. 47° 38', Fig. 44.
ElbasBan, town, lat. 41° 6', Fig. 53.
Elbe, river, lat. 53°, PI. IX.
Emscher, valley, lat. 51° 30', Fig. 7.
Enego, town, lat. 45° 57', Fig. 25.
Engadine, district, lat. 46° 40', Fig. 67.
Epirus, province, lat. 40°, Fig. 53.
Erzerum, town, lat. 39° 57', PI. VIII.
Erzgebirge, mt., lat. 50° 30', Fig. 48.
Erzingian, town, lat. 39° 38', PI. V.
Eskishehir, town, lat. 39° 44', PI. V.
Esthonia, province, lat. 59° 15', Fig. 38.
Esztergom or Gran-Esztergom, comitat,
lat. 47° 47', Fig. 48.
Etsch, river, lat. 46° 16', Fig. 30.
Etterbeck, (Brussels), Fig. 14.
Euphrates, river, lat. 37° 50', PI. VIII.
Fellin, town, lat. 58°, Fig. 38.
Fenils, town, lat. 44° 59', Fig. 21.
Fersina, town, lat. 46° 8', Fig. 30.
Filiates, town, lat. 39° 42', Fig. 53.
Fiume, town, lat. 45° 19', Fig. 48.
Fleims, valley, lat. 46° 20', Fig. 30.
Flensborg, town, lat. 54° 46', Fig. 35.
Fiorina, town, lat. 40° 50', Fig. 53.
Fogaras, town, lat. 45° 47', PI. III.
Foppiano, town, lat. 46° 20', Fig. 22.
Formazza, valley, lat. 46° 15', Fig. 22.
Franconia, district, lat. 50°, Fig. 7.
Frasheri, town, lat. 40° 25', Fig. 53.
Freudenthal, town, lat. 47° 45', Fig. 44.
Fribourg, town, lat. 46° 48', Fig. 18.
Friuli, district, {see area of Friulian lan-
guage), lat. 46° 18', Fig. 43.
Fruttwald, or Canza, village, lat. 46° 25',
Fig. 22.
Frydland, town, lat. 49° 45', Fig. 48.
Funfkirchen, town, lat. 46° 6', PI. III.
Galicia, province, lat. 48° 50', Fig. 44.
Gallio, town, lat. 45° 52', Fig. 25.
Gallipoli, peninsula, lat. 40° 25', Fig.
47.
Gargazon, town, lat. 46° 36', Fig. 67.
Gazza, town, lat. 45° 50', Fig. 30.
Geala, town, lat. 41° 13', Fig. 53.
Gediz, river, lat. 38° 36', PI. VII.
Ghemlick, (Cius), town, lat. 40° 30', PI.
VII.
Ghison, river, lat. 44° 54', Figs. 21, 22.
Glfiresse, town, lat. 47° 8', Fig. 18.
Gomo, district, lat. 49°, Fig. 48.
Gopes, town, lat. 41° 13', Fig. 53.
Gornia Bistrica, town, lat. 46° 30', Fig.
31.
Gottschee, town, lat. 45° 38', Fig. 31.
Gradena, basin, see Grodenthal.
Gradisca, town, lat. 45° 15', Fig. 31.
Gramala, bay, lat. 40° 15', Fig. 53.
Grammos, mts., lat. 40° 25', Fig. 53.
Gramosta, town, lat. 40° 23', Fig. 53.
Grand Paradis Peak, lat. 45° 30', Fig. 22.
Gran-Esztergom, town, lat. 47° 47', Fig.
48.
Graudenz, town, lat. 53° 25', PI. IV.
GresBoney, lat. 45° 50', Fig. 22.
Greutschach, town, lat. 46° 51', Fig. 31.
Grevena, village, lat. 40° 9', Fig. 53.
Gries, pass, lat. 46° 30', Fig. 22.
Griflfen, town, lat. 46° 50', Fig. 31.
360
APPENDIX E
Grisons, canton, lat. 46° 42', Fig. 67.
GrBdenthal, valley, lat. 46° 37', Fig. 30.
Grodno, town, lat. 53° 41', Fig. 38.
Grybow, town, lat. 49° 40', PI. IV.
Guevgueli, town, lat. 41° 13', Fig. 53.
Gurk, town, lat. 46° 55', Fig. 31.
Gusinye, district, lat. 42° 35', Fig. 53.
Hadikfalva, town, lat. 47° 55', Fig. 44.
Halluin, town, lat. 50° 47', PI. I.
Hama, town, lat. 35° 13', PI. V.
Hamburg, city, lat. 53° 33', PI. IX.
Harput, town, lat. 38° 40', PI. V.
Havel, river, lat. 52° 43', Fig. 7.
Hazebrouck, town, lat. 50° 44', PI. I.
Helsingfors, town, lat. 60° 10', PI. IX.
Hermannstadt, town, lat. 45° 46', PL III.
Herzegovina, province, lat. 43° 20', Fig.
48.
Hesse, grand duchy, lat. 51°, Fig. 7.
Hocbkonigsberg, mt., lat. 48° 15', PI. II.
Hodeida, town, lat. 14° 40', PI. V. Bee
inset: "Extension of the Hejaz line
toward Mecca."
Hoeylaert, town, lat. 50° 49', Fig. 14.
Horns, town, lat. 34° 46', PI. V.
Hont, comitat, lat. 48° 30', Fig. 48.
Huta, town, lat. 48° 22', Fig. 48.
He de France, province, lat. 48° 50', Fig. 3.
Ill, river, lat. 48° 25', PL II.
Illmenspitze, mt., lat. 46° 28', Fig. 67.
Illyria, province, lat. 46° 15', Fig. 48.
Ilmen, lake, lat. 58° 15', Fig. 38.
Imotski, town, lat. 43° 25', Fig. 48.
Ipek, town, lat. 42° 34', Fig. 53.
Iran, plateau, lat. 32°, PL VII. See inset:
" Western Asia showing direction of
Main Mountain Ranges."
Isargo, river, see Eisack.
Iser, mt., lat. 50° 50', Fig. 48.
Ishtip, town, lat. 41° 45', Fig. 53.
Isnik (Nicaea), town, lat. 40° 40', PL
VII.
Isonzo, river, lat. 46°, Fig. 31.
Issime, town, lat. 45° 40', Fig. 22.
Istensegitz, town, lat. 47° 52', Fig. 44.
Istria, province, lat. 45° 20', Fig. 32.
Ixellea, (Brussels), Fig. 14.
Jablunka, pass, lat. 49° 34', PL IV.
Jaflfa, town, lat. 32° 4', PL V.
Jakobeny, town, lat. 47° 30', Fig. 44.
Jeihun, river, lat. 37° 30', PL VII.
Jerablus, town, lat. 36° 30', PL V.
Jerusalem, city, lat. 31° 47', PL V.
Jette, town, lat. 50° 51', Fig. 14.
Jevizlik, town, lat. 40° 48°, PL VII.
Jidda, town, lat. 21°, PL V. See inset:
" Extension of the Hejaz line toward
Mecca."
Johanisburg, town, lat. 53° 37', Fig. 38
Julian Alps, mts., lat. 46° 10', Fig. 31.
Jumaya, town, lat. 42°, Pig. 53.
Jura, mts., lat. 46° 50', Fig. 3.
Kailar, town, lat. 40° 29', Fig. 53.
Kalamas, river, lat. 39° 35', Fig. 53.
Kalarites, town, lat. 39° 40', Fig. 53.
Kamienec, town, lat. 48° 40', Fig. 44.
Kanin, mt., lat. 46° 24', Fig. 31.
Karaferia, town, lat. 40° 36', Fig. 53.
Kassaba, town, lat. 38° 8', PL V.
Kastamuni, town, lat. 41° 23', PL V.
Kastoria, lake, lat. 40° 34', Fig. 53.
Katerynoslav, town, lat. 48° 28', Fig. 38.
Kavalla, town, lat. 41°, Fig. 47.
Kelkid, river, lat. 40° 20', PL VII.
Kerepea, town, lat. 47° 35', Fig. 48.
Kharkov, town, lat. 50°, Fig. 38.
Kherson, town, lat. 46° 39', Fig. 38.
Kholm, town, lat. 51° 39', Fig. 38.
Khursk, town, lat. 51° 56', Fig. 38.
Kiev, town, lat. 50° 27', Fig. 38.
Kimara, town, lat. 40° 10', Fig. 53.
Kiri, river, lat. 41° 55', Fig. 53.
Kirlibaba, town, lat. 47° 40', Fig. 44.
Kizil, river, lat. 41°, PL VII.
Klagenfurth, town, lat. 46° 37', Fig. 48.
Klausen, town, lat. 46° 39', Fig. 67.
Kliasma, river, lat. 56° 19', Fig. 38.
Klimutz, town, lat. 47° 58', Fig. 44.
Klissura, town, see Vlakho-Klissura.
Knin, town, lat. 44° 3', Fig. 48.
Kockana, town, lat. 40° 20', Fig. 53.
Koekelberg, (Brussels), Fig. 14.
Konia, town, lat. 37° 51', PL VII.
Koritza, town, lat. 40° 15', Fig. 53.
Kostenberg, town, lat. 46° 45', Fig. 31.
Kottbus, town, lat. 51° 34', Fig. 41.
Kovno, town, lat. 55°, Fig. 38.
Koweit, town, lat. 29° 30', PL VI.
Krajste, valley, lat. 42° 41', Fig. 53.
Krasnostaw, town, lat. 50° 59', PL IV.
Kremnitz, town, lat. 48° 42', Fig. 48.
Krushevo, town, lat. 41° 25', Fig. 53.
Kuban, province, lat. 45°, Fig. 38.
Kukush, town, lat. 40° 59', Fig. 53.
APPENDIX E
361
Kurdistan, province, lat. 37° 30', PI. VII.
Kurland, province, lat. 57°, Pig. 38.
Kustendil, town, lat. 42° 18', Fig. 53.
Kwidzyn or Marienwerder, town, lat. 53°
40', PI. IV.
La Chiesa, town, lat. 46° 20', Fig. 22.
Ladoga, lake, lat. 60° 45', Fig. 38.
Laeken, lat. 50° 51', Fig. 14.
Laghi, cape, lat. 41° 12', Fig. 53.
Lagosta, is., lat. 42° 46', Fig. 48.
Laibach, town, lat. 46° 3', Fig. 48.
Lales, town and bay, lat. 41° 30', Fig. 53.
Lanciano, town, lat. 42° 14', Fig. 33.
Lantosque, town, lat. 43° 59', Fig. 22.
Lapsista, town, lat. 39° 45', Fig. 53.
La Turbie, village, lat. 43° 50', Fig. 22.
Lavarone, town, lat. 45° 55', Fig. 67.
Lecce, town, lat. 40° 22', Fig. 43.
Lecker An, river, lat. 54° 45', Fig. 34.
Lemberg, (Lvov), lat. 49° 40', PI. III.
Lesina, is., lat. 43°, Fig. 48.
Leskovatz, town, lat. 43°, Fig. 53.
Leva, town, lat. 48° 15', Fig. 48.
Llbau, town, lat. 56° 30', Fig. 38.
Liege, town, lat. 50° 40', PI. I.
Lille, town, lat. 50° 38', PI. I.
Lim, river, lat. 43° 23', Fig. 53.
Linkelbeek, town, lat. 50° 49', Pig. 14.
Linz, town, lat. 48° 17', Fig. 48.
Lisaa, is., lat. 43° 4', Fig. 48.
Livonia, province, lat. 57° 20', Fig. 38.
Lobau, town, lat. 53° 30', PI. IV.
Lobositz, town, lat. 50° 31', Fig. 48.
Lods, town, lat. 51° 46', PI. IV.
Loeche, town, lat. 46° 12', Fig. 22.
Loetzen, town, lat. 54° 2', Fig. 38.
Loing, river, lat. 48°, Fig. 3.
Longwy, town, lat. 49° 32', PI. I.
Lorraine, province, lat. 48° 50', PI. II.
Luditz, town, lat. 50° 3', Fig. 48.
Luisenthal, tovm, lat. 47° 35', Fig. 44.
Luneville, town, lat. 48° 35', Fig. 7.
Lusatia, province, lat. 51°, Fig. 41.
Luxemburg, grand duchy, lat. 50°, PI. I.
Lvov, (Lemberg), city, lat. 49° 40', PI. III.
Lyck, town, lat. 53° 50', PI. IV.
Lys, river, lat. 51°, PI. I.
Macedonia, lat. 41°, Fig. 53.
Macugnaga, town, lat. 45° 59', Fig. 22.
Magarevo, town, lat. 41° 12', Pig. 53.
Maggiore, lake, lat. 46°, Fig. 22.
Makarska, town, lat. 43° 18', Fig. 48.
Malakasi, town, lat. 39° 45', Pig 53.
Malborghet, town, lat. 46° 30', PL III.
Malmedy, town, lat. 50° 24', PI. I.
Maramoros or Maramaros-Sziget, town,
lat. 47° 55', Fig. 44.
Marburg, town, lat. 46° 34', Pig. 31.
March, river, lat. 48° 30', PI. III.
Maria-Theresiopel, town, lat. 46° 8', PI.
III.
Marienwerder, (Kwidzgn), town, lat. 53°
44', PI. IV.
Mariondol, town, lat. 45° 40', Fig. 48.
Maritza, river, lat. 41°, Fig. 47.
Markirch, (or Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines),
town, lat. 48° 14', PI. II.
Marmora, sea, lat. 40° 40', Pig. 47.
Marne, river, lat. 49° 2', Fig. 3.
Maros, river, lat. 46°, PI. III.
Maros Vasarhely, town, lat. 46° 28', PI.
III.
Martello, river, lat. 45° 51', Pig. 25.
Massif Central, region, lat. 45°, Fig. 3.
Masurian, lakes, lat. 54°, Fig. 38.
Mati, river, lat. 41° 40', Fig. 53.
Meander, river, lat. 37°, PI. VII.
Mecca, city, lat. 21° 20', PI. V. See
inset: "Extension of the Hejaz line
toward Mecca."
Mediasch, town, lat. 46° 7', PI. III.
Meleda, is., lat. 42° 45', Fig. 48.
Melkovic, town, lat. 43° 3', Fig. 48.
Melnik, town, lat. 52° 21', PI. IV.
Menin, town, lat. 50° 47', PI. I.
Meran, town, lat. 46° 41', Fig. 67.
Mesopotamia, province, lat. 36° 30', PL
VII.
Metsovo, town, lat. 39° 45', Pig. 53.
Metz, town, lat. 49° 7', PL II.
Meuse, river, lat. 49° 10', PL IX.
Midyad, town, lat. 37° 30', PL VII.
Mies, town, lat. 49° 44', Pig. 48.
Mitau, town, lat. 56° 39', Fig. 38.
Mitoka-Dragomirna, town, lat. 47° 48',
Pig. 44.
Mitrovitza, town, lat. 42° 43', Pig. 47.
Moldau, river, lat. 49° 40', Pig. 48.
Molenbeek-St. Jean, (Brussels), Fig. 14.
Molise, province, lat. 41° 35', Fig. 33.
Molli6res, town, lat. 44° 58', Fig. 21.
Molovista, town, lat. 41° 4', Pig. 53.
Molsheim, town, lat. 48° 33', PL II.
Monaatir, town, lat. 41° 1', Pig. 47.
362
APPENDIX E
Mont Blanc, lat. 45° 51', Fig. 18.
Montefalcone, town, lat. 45° 42', Fig. 31.
Monte Moro, pass, lat. 46°, Fig. 22.
Montenegro, kingdom, lat. 43°, Fig. 48.
Monteoderisio, town, lat. 42° 6', Fig. 33.
Monte Theodule, pass, lat. 45° 57', Fig. 22.
Montreux, town, lat. 46° 26', Fig. 18.
Montsevilier, town, lat. 47° 23', Fig. 18.
Moosburg, town, lat. 46° 37', Fig. 48.
Morat or Murten, lake and village, lat.
46° 55', Fig. 18.
Morava, river, lat. 44°, Fig. 47.
Moravia, province, lat. 49° 30', PI. III.
Moravska-Ostrava, town, lat. 49° 50', Fig.
48.
Moresnet, territory, lat. 50° 43', Fig. 7.
Morge, valley, lat. 46° 20', Fig. 18.
Morhange, town, lat. 48° 56', PI. II.
Mori, town, lat. 45° 52', Fig. 30.
Morlacca, canal, lat. 45°, Fig. 48.
Morva, (March), river, lat. 48° 30', PI.
III.
Moselle, river, lat. 49°, PI. II.
Moskopolis, town, lat. 40° 40', Fig. 53.
Mosul, town, lat. 36° 19', PI. VII.
Moutiera, town, lat. 45° 30', Fig. 22.
Munater, town, lat. 46° 16', Fig. 22.
Mur, river, lat. 46°, Fig. 31.
Murad Su or Murad, river, lat. 38° 43',
PI. VII.
Mush, town, lat. 38° 47', PL VII.
Namur, town, lat. 50° 28', PI. I.
Nancy, town, lat. 48° 41', PI. II.
Narenta, river, lat. 43°, Fig. 47.
Narew, river, lat. 53° 8', PI. IV.
Neidenburg, town, lat. 53°, Fig. 38.
Nemecke Prava, town, lat. 48° 57', Fig.
48.
Nesibin, town, lat. 37°, PI. V.
Netze, river, lat. 53°, PI. IV.
Neuchatel, lake, lat. 46° 55', Fig. 18.
Neusatz, town, lat. 45° 16', PI. III.
Neusiedler, lake, lat. 47° 50', Fig. 48.
Neusolonetz, town, lat. 47° 40', Fig. 44.
Neutra, town, lat. 48° 19', Fig. 48.
Neuveville, town, lat. 47° 6', Fig. 18.
Neva, river, lat. 59° 48', Fig. 38.
Nevesca, town, lat. 40° 37', Fig. 53.
Nevrokop, town, lat. 41° 32', Fig. 53.
New Tischen or Titschein, town, lat. 49°
35', PI. III.
Niemen, river, lat. 55°, Fig. 38.
Nish, town, lat. 43° 27', Fig. 47.
Nishava, river, lat. 43°, Fig. 47.
Nissa, river, see the river, lat. 50° 30', on
which the town of Neiase stands, PI. IV.
Noce, river, lat. 46° 25', Fig. 30.
Novezansky, town, lat. 48° 2', Fig. 48.
Novi Bazar, town, lat. 43° 4', Fig. 53.
Novi Varosh, town, lat. 43° 25', Fig. 53.
Nurschan, town, lat. 49° 40', Fig. 48.
Oder, river, lat. 51° 20', PI. IV.
Ograyevitza, valley, lat. 43° 40', Fig. 53.
Ohain, town, lat. 50° 49', Fig. 14.
Oise, river, lat. 49° 54', Fig. 3.
Oka, river, lat. 55° 57', Fig. 38.
Okridji, lake, lat. 41°, Fig. 53.
Okrida, town, lat. 41° 11', Fig. 53.
Oldenhorn, peak, lat. 46° 19', Fig. 18.
Oletzko, town, lat. 54°, Fig. 38.
Olhem or Ohain, town, lat. 50° 49', Fig. 14.
Oliva, town, lat. 54° 32', PI. IV.
Olmutz, town, lat. 49° 36', Fig. 48.
Oltu, river, lat. 44°, PI. III.
Olympus, mt., lat. 40° 4', Fig. 53.
Oppeln, town, lat. 50° 40', PI. IV.
Oreo, river, lat. 45° 17', Fig. 22.
Ornavasso, town, lat. 45° 59', Fig. 22.
Ortelsburg, town, lat. 53° 34', Fig 38.
Ortler, mt., lat. 46° 30', Fig. 67.
Osogov, mt., lat. 42° 10', Fig. 53.
Ostanitza, town, lat. 40° 2', Fig. 53.
Oaterode, town, lat. 53° 41', Fig. 38.
Otranto, strait, lat. 39° 45', Fig. 53.
Oulx, town, lat. 45° 3', Fig. 21.
Paluzza, village, lat. 46° 34', Fig. 31.
Panchova, town, lat. 44° 56', Fig. 48.
Panderma, town, lat. 40° 18', PI. V.
Paria, city, lat. 48° 50', Fig. 3.
Paris Basin, region, lat. 48° 50', Fig. 3.
Pata, town, lat. 41° 23', Fig. 53.
Patnoz, town, lat. 39° 22', PI. VII.
Pechui, town, see Fiinfkirchen.
Pellice, river, lat. 44° 50', Fig. 21.
Pergine, lat. 46° 6', Fig. 30.
Perouse, town, lat. 44° 56', Fig. 22.
Persian Gulf, lat. 29°, PI. VII.
Peshtera, town, lat. 43° 12', Fig. 53.
Philippopolis, town, lat. 42° 3', Fig. 47.
Piave, river, lat. 45° 50', Fig. 32.
Picardy, province, lat. 49° 50', Fig. 3.
Pignerol, town, lat. 44° 48', Figs. 21, 22.
Pilis, district, lat. 47° 15', Fig. 48.
APPENDIX E
363
Pilsen, tov\Ti, lat. 49° 45', Fig. 48.
Pindus, mts., lat. 39° 45', Pig. 53.
Pirot, town, lat. 43° 10', Fig. 53.
Pisuderi, town, lat. 40° 45', Fig. 53.
Pressburg, to^vn, lat. 48° 10', PI. III.
Priepet, river and marshes, lat. 52° 10',
PI. IX.
Prizrend, town, lat. 42° 8', Fig. 53.
Progno, river, lat. 45° 30', Fig. 30.
Prokleita, mts., lat. 42° 25', Fig. 53.
Provence, province, lat. 43° 50', Fig. 3.
Pruth, river, lat. 47°, PI. III.
Puglia, province, lat. 41°, Fig. 43.
Pusterthal, valley, lat. 46° 44', Fig. 67.
Eaab, river, lat. 47° 25', Fig. 48.
Eaab, town, lat. 47° 41', PI. III.
Eadgona, town, lat. 46° 40', Fig. 31.
Eadkersburg, town, lat. 46° 42', Fig. 31.
Eadymno, town, lat. 49° 58', PI. IV.
Pagusa, town, lat. 42° 37', Fig. 48.
Eas el ain, town, lat. 36° 50', PI. V.
Eayak, town, lat. 33° 30', PI. V.
Eazlog, town, lat. 41° 51', Fig. 53.
Eed Sea, lat. 20°, PL V. See inset:
" Extension of the Hejaz line toward
Mecca."
Eeichenberg, town, lat. 50° 47', Fig. 48.
Eenz, town, lat. 54° 43', Fig. 35.
Eesia, town, lat. 46° 30', Fig. 31.
Eeval, town, lat. 59° 27', PI. IX.
Ehenish Prussia, province, lat. 50° 30',
Fig. 7.
Ehine, river, lat. 48°, PI. II.
Ehine Heme, canal, lat. 51° 28', Fig. 7.
Ehodes, is., (the largest of the Dodeca-
nesia group), lat. 36° 23', PI. V.
Ehode-Saint-Gen6se, town, lat. 50° 49',
Pig. 14.
Ehodope, mt8., lat. 42°, Fig. 47.
Ehone, river, lat. 45°, Fig. 3.
Ehone Valley, lat. 45°, Fig. 3.
Eibeauvillg or Eappoltsweiler, town, lat.
48° 12', PI. II.
Eienza, river, lat. 46° 50', Fig. 30.
Eiga, gulf, lat. 57° 30', PI. IX.
Eilo, town, lat. 42° 9', Fig. 53.
Eima S. Giuseppe, village, lat. 45° 54',
Fig. 22.
Eoana, town, lat. 45° 51', Fig. 25.
Eoanne, town, lat. 46° 2', Fig. 6.
Eochemolles, town, lat. 45° 8', Fig. 21.
Eodoni, cape, lat. 41° 34', Fig. 53.
Eodosto, town, lat. 41°, Fig. 47.
Eokytince, town, lat. 49° 22', Fig. 48.
Eosa, mt., lat. 45° 56', Fig. 22.
Eoshai, town, lat. 42° 49', Fig. 53.
Eotzo, town, lat. 45° 50', Fig. 25.
Eovereto, town, lat. 45° 53', Fig. 30.
Eoya, river, lat. 43° 54', Fig. 22.
Eudolfthal, town, lat. 45° 15', Fig. 48.
Eymanow, town, lat. 49° 35', PI. IV.
Saar, river, lat. 49° 35', PI. II.
Saaz, town, lat. 50° 21', Fig. 48.
St. Andrea, is., lat. 43° 2', Fig. 48.
St. Bernard, mt., lat. 45° 51', Fig. 18.
Saint-Gilles, town, (Brussels), Pig. 14.
St. Gotthard, town, lat. 46° 58', Fig. 31.
Saint-Hermagoras, town, lat. 46° 43', Fig.
31.
Saint- Josse-ten-Noode, town, ( Brussels ) ,
Fig. 14.
St. Omer, town, lat. 50° 45', PI. I.
St. Pancrace, town, lat. 46° 48', Fig. 31.
Sakaria, river, lat. 40°, PI. VII.
Sakaria, valley, lat. 40°, PI. VII.
Salbertrand, town, lat. 45° 6', Fig. 21.
Salecchio, town, lat. 46° 20', Fig. 22.
Salerno, town, lat. 40° 40', Fig. 43.
Salonica, town, lat. 40° 38', PI. IX and
Fig. 47.
Samarra, town, lat. 34° 10', PI. V.
Sampeyre, town, lat. 44° 35', Fig. 22.
Samsun, town, lat. 41° 18', PI. VIII.
San, river, lat. 50° 34', PI. IV.
Sana'a, town, lat. 15°, PI. V. See inset:
" Extension of the Hejaz line toward
Mecca."
San Felice Slavo, town, lat. 41° 54', Fig.
33.
San Giacomo di Lusiana, town, lat. 45°
30', Fig. 25.
San Giovanni Teatino, town, lat. 42° 24',
Fig. 33.
San Juan, point, (Gulf of Drino), lat.
41° 45', Fig. 53.
San Juan de Medua, town, lat. 41° 55',
Fig. 53.
San Martino di Perrero, town, lat. 44° 56',
Fig. 21.
San Michele, (German: Pommat), village,
lat. 46° 20', Pig. 21.
Sanok, town, lat. 49° 34', PI. IV.
San Pietro Brazza, town, lat. 43° 19', Fig.
48.
Santi-Quaranta, (Preveza), town, lat.
39° 49', Fig. 53.
364
APPENDIX E
San Vito (CMetino), town, lat. 42° 15',
Fig. 33.
SaOne, river, lat. 46° 2', Fig. 3.
Sappada, village, lat. 46° 37', Fig. 31.
Sarajevo, town, lat. 43° 52', Fig. 48.
Sarine, river, lat. 46° 35', Fig. 18.
Sarnaki, town, lat. 52° 22', PI. IV.
SaroB, gulf, lat. 40° 35', Fig. 47.
Sarrebourg, town, lat. 48° 45', PI. II.
Saseno, is., lat. 40° 29', Fig. 53.
Sasun, district, lat. 38° 30', PI. VII.
Sauer, river, lat. 51° 40', Fig. 7.
Sauris, village, lat. 46° 31', Fig. 31.
Sauza d'Oulx, town, lat. 45° 2', Fig. 21.
Save, river, lat. 44° 52', PI. III.
Saxony, kingdom, lat. 51° 50', Fig. 48.
Schaerbeek, (Brussels), Fig. 14.
Schassburg, town, lat. 46° 10', PI. III.
Schlucht, pass, lat. 48° 4', PI. II.
Scutari, lake and town, lat. 42° 1', Fig.
53.
Seine, river, lat. 49° 28', Fig. 3.
Sebenico, town, lat. 43° 44', Fig. 48.
Seihun, river, lat. 37° 30', PI. VII.
Sella, town, lat. 40° 8', Fig. 53.
Semeni, river, lat. 40° 40', Fig. 53.
Sensburg, town, lat. 53° 52', Fig. 38.
Serres, town, lat. 41° 7', Fig. 53.
Sesia, river, lat. 45° 45', Fig. 22.
Sette Communi, plateau, 45° 50', Pig. 25.
Settimo Vitone, town, lat. 45° 33', Fig. 22.
Shar, mts., lat. 42°, Fig. 53.
Sicken-Sussen, town, lat. 50° 49', PI. I.
Sienitza, town, lat. 43° 15', Fig. 63.
Sierre or Siders, town, lat. 46° 21', Fig.
18.
Silesia, province, lat. 50° 51', PI. IV.
Sinj, town, lat. 43° 40', Fig. 48.
Sinjar, town, lat. 36° 23', PI. VII.
Sipiska, town, lat. 40° 41', Fig. 53.
Siracu, town, lat. 39° 39', Fig. 53.
Sisani, town, lat. 40° 25', Fig. 53.
Sivas, town, lat. 39° 37', PI. VIII.
Skumbi, river, lat. 41° 6', Fig. 53.
Slavonia, province, lat. 45° 45', Fig. 48.
Smyrna, city, lat. 38° 26', PI. VII.
Sofia, town, lat. 42° 32', Fig. 47.
Soignes, forest, lat. 50° 49', Fig. 14.
Solomiac, town, lat. 44° 59', Fig. 21.
Some, river, lat. 47° 23', Fig. 18.
Spalato, town, lat. 43° 30°, Fig. 48.
Spree, river, lat. 52° 23', Fig. 41.
Stagno, town, lat. 42° 39', Fig. 48.
Stari Vlah, district, lat. 43° 25', Fig. 53.
Strassburg, town, lat. 48° 36', PI. II.
Strassburg, (Prussia), town, lat. 53° 14',
PI. IV.
Stravopolskoi, town, lat. 45° 2', Fig. 38.
Struga, town, lat. 41° 10', Fig. 53.
Struma, river, lat. 41° 22', Fig. 53.
Strumitza, river, lat. 41° 20', Fig. 53.
Stulpikani, town, lat. 47° 27', Fig. 44.
Stura, river, lat. 45° 15', Fig. 22.
Subotica, or Maria-Theresiopel, town.
Suha Gora, mt., lat. 41° 58', Fig. 53.
Surash, town, lat. 52° 55', PI. IV.
Suse, town, lat. 45° 10', Figs. 21, 22.
Suwalki, town, lat. 54° 7', PI. IV.
Swabia, district, lat. 48° 20', Fig. 30.
Syria, province, lat. 34°, PI. VII.
Szbadka, or Maria-Theresiopel, town.
Tabriz, town, lat. 38° 2', PI. VII.
Tannchen, mt., lat. 48° 12', PI. II.
Tara, mts., lat. 43° 55', Fig. 53.
Tarcento, town, lat. 46° 13', Fig. 31.
Tarvis, town, lat. 46° 45', Fig. 48.
Tatra, mts., lat. 49° 50', PI. IV.
Tauris, province, lat. 46°, Fig. 38.
Taus, town, lat. 49° 27', Fig. 48.
Tekrit, town, lat. 34° 35', PI. V.
Temesvar, town, lat. 45° 47', PI. III.
Tepeleni, town, lat. 40° 18', Fig. 53.
Terskaja, province, lat. 40° 30', Fig. 38,
Tervueren, town, lat. 50° 49', Fig. 14.
Tescben, town, lat. 49° 45', PI. IV.
Tessin, (Tessino), canton, lat. 46° 15',
Fig. 22.
Tetovo, town, lat. 42° 5', Fig. 53.
Tezew, (Dirschau), lat. 54° 5', PI. IV.
Theiss, river, lat. 46° 30', PI. III.
Thessaly, province, lat. 39° 30', Fig. 53.
Thiele, river, lat. 47° 2', Fig. 18.
Thorn, town, lat. 53° 3', PI. IV.
Thures, town, lat. 44° 54', Fig. 21.
Thuringia, state, lat. 50° 40', Fig. 7.
Tigris, river, lat. 33°, PI. VII.
Timok, river, lat. 44°, Fig. 53.
Tirnovo, town, lat. 43° 7', Fig. 47.
Toce, falls, lat. 46° 22', Fig. 22.
Toce, river, lat. 46° 5', Fig. 22.
Tofana, mt., lat. 46° 32',- Fig. 67.
Tokat, town, lat. 40° 17', PI. VII.
Tolgyes, pass, lat. 47°, PI. III.
Tomaschow, town, lat. 50° 27', PI. IV.
Torcola, is., lat. 43° 5', Fig. 48.
Torre Pellice, village, lat. 44° 40', Figs.
21, 22.
APPENDIX E
365
Tourcoing, town, lat. 50° 43', pi. i.
Trafoi, town, lat. 46° 34', Fig. 30.
Trebizond, town, lat. 41° 1' pi. vil
Transylvania, province, lat. 46° 40', PI.
Trebnitz, town, lat. 50° 25', Pig. 43.
Treene, river, lat. 54° 20', Fig. 35.
Tren, town, lat. 42° 48', Fig. 53.
Trent, town, lat. 46° 4', Fig. 30.
Triest, gulf, lat. 45° 30', Fig. 31.
Triest, town, lat. 45° 39', PI. III.
Tripoli, town, lat. 34° 30', PI. VII.
Tubize, town, southwest of Brussels, Fi?
14. ^'
Turocz, town, lat. 49° 5', Pig. 48.
Turtmann, valley, lat. 46° 15', Fig. 22.
Tweebeek, town, see Tubize, Fig. 14.
Tyrol, province, lat. 47°, Fig. 30.
Uccle, town, south of Brussels, Fig. 14.
Udine, town, lat. 46° 10', PI. III.
Ukraine, province, lat. 49°. 40', Fig. 38.
Ung, river, lat. 48° 42', Fig. 38.
Unterwald, or Foppiano, village, lat. 45°
18', Fig. 22.
Urmiah, lake, lat. 37° 40', PI. VII.
Uskok, mts., lat. 45° 45', Fig. 48.
Uskub, town, lat. 42° 5', Fig. 53.
Valais, canton, lat. 46° 15', Fig. 22.
Valona, town, lat. 40° 29', Fig. 53.
Valsesia, or Sesia, river, lat. 45° 45', Fig.
22.
Van, lake, lat. 38° 40', PI. VIII.
Var, river, lat. 43° 45', Fig. 22.
Vardar, river, lat. 41°, Fig. 53.
Vardar, valley, lat. 41°, Figs. 48, 53.
Vas, comitate, lat. 47° 14', Fig. 31.
Vasto, town, lat. 42° 7', Fig. 33.
Vaud, canton, lat. 46° 35', Fig. 22.
Velebiti, mts., lat. 44° 30', Fig. 48.
Venije-Vardar, town, lat. 40° 45', Fig.
53.
Verdun, town, lat. 49° 10', Fig. 3.
Verona, city, lat. 45° 30', Fig. 30.
Vicenza, town, lat. 45° 32', Fig. 30.
Vichlaby, district, lat. 49° 20', Fig. 48.
Vi6ge, town, 46° 22', Fig. 22.
Villach, town, lat. 46° 37', Fig. 48.
Vilna, town, lat. 54° 41', Fig. 38.
Vinadio, town, lat. 44° 23', Fig. 22.
Vintschgau, river, lat. 46° 37', Fig. 67.
Viso, mt., lat. 44° 40', Fig. 22.
Vistula, river, lat. 50°, PI. IV.
Vlakho-Klissura, town, lat. 40° 27', Fig.
53.
Vlakho-Livadi, town, lat. 40° 8', Fig. 53.
Vlasina, river, lat. 42° 50', Fig. 53.
Vodena, town, lat. 40° 47', Fig. 53.
Volga, river, lat. 57°, Fig. 38.
Volhynia, province, lat. 50° 40', Fig. 38.
Voronz, town, lat. 51° 46', Fig. 38.
Vosges, mts., lat. 48°, Fig. 3.
Voyussa, river, lat. 40° 36', Fig. 53.
Vrable, town, lat. 48° 40', Fig. 48.
Vrania, town, lat. 42° 37', Fig. 53.
Wallachia, district, lat. 44° 30', Fig. 38.
Waterloo, town, lat. 50° 44', PI. I and
Fig. 14.
Weiss, valley, lat. 48° 18', PI. II.
Weissenburg, town, lat. 49° 2', PI. II.
Weissenstein, mt., lat. 47° 15', Fig. 18.
Wesel, town, lat. 51° 39', PI. IX.
Westphalia, province, lat. 51° 36', Fig. 7.
West Prussia, province, lat. 53° 40', PI.
IV.
White Drin, river, lat. 42° 15', Fig. 53.
Wildstrubel, mt., lat. 46° 24', Fig. 18.
Windhorst, town, lat. 45° 15', Fig. 48.
Wissek, town, lat. 53° 12', PI. IV.
Woerther, lake, lat. 46° 37', Fig. 31.
Woluwe St.-Lambert, (Brussels), Fig. 14.
t
Xirolivadi, town, lat. 40° 30', Fig. 53.
Yanina, town, lat. 39° 47', Fig. 53.
Yonne, river, lat. 48°, Fig. 3.
Yuzgat, town, lat. 39° 50', PL VIII.
Zab, river, lat. 37° 30', PI. VII.
Zagros, mts., lat. 35°, PI. VII. See inset:
" Western Asia showing direction of
Main Mountain Ranges."
Zala, district, lat. 46° 48', Fig. 31.
Zara, town, lat. 44° 7', Fig. 48.
Zemplin, town, lat. 48° 15', Fig. 38.
Zermagna, river, lat. 44° 10', Fig. 48.
Zermatt, town, lat. 46° 2', Fig. 22.
Zips, district, lat. 49° 15', Fig. 48.
Zmigrod, town, lat. 49° 39', PI. IV.
Zombor, town, lat. 45° 46', Fig. 48.
Zumborak, town, lat. 45° 30', Fig. 48.
Zwittau, town, lat. 49° 46', Fig. 48.
INDEX
Aasen, Ivar, 99
Abruzzi, 88
Adalia, Gulf of, 251, 256-257
Adige, 84
Adige valley, 70, 74
Adriatic, control, 83-84 ; eastern coast, 337-
338; piracy, 86, 87; problem, 199-201;
Serbia and, 180
Adriatic coast and German language, 68
Adriatic provinces, 76
JSgean, 174, 175, 247-248, 274
Aidin railway, 250, 251, 255
Albanach, 192
Albania, 84, 163, 164, 180, 181, 187, 189,
193-201; Greek boundary, 197; impor-
tance, 199; national feeling and boun-
daries, 194, 195 ; religion, 201
Albanian, 87, 90, 163, 165, 192
Albanians, 175, 192-201
Alemanni, 44
Aleppo, 224, 225, 259, 261, 264
Alexandretta, 244, 261
Alexandria, 233, 234
Alghero, 64
Allevis, 285
Alpes-Maritimes, 64
Alpine race, xiv, 4, 5, 6, 19, 38, 40, 41,
323-324
Alps, 42, 333
Alsace, 38-49; Lower and Higher, 41
Alsace-Lorraine, 329-330, 334-335; linguis-
tic boundary between French and Ger-
man, 35-49
Alsatians, 40, 41, 46, 47
Amanus, 259, 260
America, discovery of, 233, 235
Anatolia, 225, 247, 248, 266, 271, 275, 276,
284; Turks in, 281
" Ange," 36
Anglo-Saxon, 13
Ansariyehs, 298-299
Ansiedelunggesetz, 127
Antioch, 297, 298
Aosta, 60
Aptals, 289
Arabia, 238; British influence, 240-241;
France and, 266
Arabic, 225, 230; in Turkish, 280
Arabs, 307-308
Aram, 302
Aramaic, 302, 306
Arameans, 302-303
Argana, 261, 266
Argyrocastro, 197, 199
Arlon, 22
Armenia, 224, 244, 254, 266; etymology,
291
Armenian, Persian words in, 272
Armenians, 272, 289-294
Armenoids, 271, 273, 285, 324
Armorica, 56
Arnaut, 194
Aromunes, 163
Aryan, Albanian, 192; Armenians, 291,
292; early home, 7; Lithuanians, 104,
105; vagueness of term, 8
Ashkenazim, 301
Asia Minor, 175, 225, 228-229, 269, 270;
geography, 252; Greeks in, 273-278;
highway character, 249; Mohammedan
dissenters, 285-289; Mohammedan immi-
grants, 282-284; peoples and villages,
non-Turkish, table, 308-309; resources,
253-255; Turks in, 278-282. See also
Turkey
Asiatic trade with Europe, 233-236
Asiatics in Europe, 174-176
Assassins, 298
Athens, 248
Augustus, 64
Austria, 95, 330; as protector of Europe,
82; census returns, character, 76; Dal-
matia, 87; foreign policy, 80; Italian
frontier claims (with sketch-map), 335-
337; Jewish capitalists, 125; Lombardo-
Venetia, 74; Poles in, 130; sketch-map
showing Slavs and their languages, 183;
Slovene in, map, 81
Austria-Hungary, 155, 156; Adriatic prov-
inces, 76; Italians in, 66; nationality,
83; Polish provinces, table, 138; popula-
tion and weakness, 80-82; Serbians in,
181-182
367
368
INDEX
Avars, 81, 176
Avahars, 288
Bagdad, 238, 242, 260, 262
Bagdad railroad, 178, 251, 257-263
"Bahnhof," 53
Balearic islands, 64
Balikis, 288
Balkan peninsula, 86-87 ; clash of Slav and
Teuton, 181; highway character, 174-
175, 177-181 ; linguistic and political di-
visions, 201-202; physical character,
174; Romanic languages, 164-166; Ru-
manians in, 160; Serbian inhabitants
and, 174-191; Slavicization, 165; south-
eastern angle, 215-216, 218
Balkan States, areas and populations be-
fore and after the wars, tables, 345
Balkans, communications, map, 179;
sketch-map of western, 203
Baltic, Poland and the, 119, 120
Baltic languages, 100-110
Baltic provinces, 103-108
Banat territory, 86, 158
Baradeus, Jacobus, 306
Basel, 54
Basra, 306
Bavaria, 68, 73, 74
Bedouins, 307-308
Beirut-Aleppo railroad, 250, 265
Bektash, 287-288
Belekis, 288
Belgae, 21
Belgium, 329; boundary of French and
Germanic languages in, 19-34; French-
and Flemish-speaking inhabitants, table,
34; language, xiv; linguistic and politi-
cal boundaries, 22; literature, 318-319;
national language, 23; nationality, 33;
present crisis, 29, 33; Romance lan-
guages in, 25; shape of land, 29-30;
struggle for unity, 20
Berat, 164
Berne, 53, 54
Beskid, 115, 143
Bessarabia, 159; Rumanians in, 172
Bienne, 49, 50, 51, 55
Bismarck, 329
Black Caps, 284
Black Sea, 218; Poland and, 120
Blanc, Mont, 52
Blondness in Asia Minor, 286
Bohemia, 56, 341; culture, 143; German
element at present, 148-149; German
ring about, 141-142, 144; national
consciousness, 148; nationality, 153;
Slav and Teuton struggle, 143-144;
spoliation, 148
Bohemian and Bohemians, 141-150; litera-
ture, 146, 147, 151
Bohmerwald, 141, 142
Bolealas, 119
Bolzano, 73, 74
Boshnaks, 189
Bosnia, 181, 182, 189, 190; German set-
tlers, 190-191
Bosnian Mohammedans, 190
Bosporus, 174, 178, 181, 217-220, 244
Boulogne, 23
Boundaries, linguistic and political, 342;
national frontiers, 328; natural, 327;
natural and scientific, 332-334; revisions,
202. See also Frontiers
Boyana, 196
Brandenburg, 116, 118
Brenner Pass, 70, 72
Breslau, 116
Bressanone, 73
Breton, 56
Bromberg, 121, 122
Bruche, 43
Brussels, French language in, growth, 27;
languages, 24; sketch-map of envi-
rons showing language distribution,
26
Budapest, 156
Bukovina, 168-173; colonies and popula-
tion, 170, 171; Germans in, 169; sketch-
map of Rumanian area, 169
Bulgaria, history, 214; national unity,
214-215
Bulgarian, Macedonian and, 206; old, 211;
Serbian transition dialect, 212
Bulgarians, 176, 180, 202; ethnic composi-
tion, 209-210; Greek boundary, 207;
Macedonia, 204; Turks and, 210
Bunjevci, 188
Burgundy, 20, 36, 52, 53, 61
Byzantium, 232, 235
Caliphate, 241, 267
Cape-to-Cairo railroad, 252
Caravans, 234, 257-258, 263
Carniola, 79, 80
Carpathians, 114-115, 131, 136
Gatalonians, 64
Cathay, 233, 234
Caucasus, 135, 283, 284
INDEX
369
Celtic, xiv, 47, 52, 59; early home, 6; in
France, relation to Italic, 56; Po, 63
Celts, 6, 40, 41; Asia Minor, 287; early
home, 56; influence on Teutons, 14
Chaldeans, 305
Charlemagne, 38, 39
Charles the Bald, 38, 39
Charles IV, 145, 146
Chepmi, 285
China, 234
Chinese, 7
Christiana of St. John, 306
Christians of Turko-Persian borderland,
table, 311-313
Chuds. See Esthonians
Cilician Gates, 225, 258
Cimbro, 68
Cimmerians, 286
Circassians, 282-284
Colonization, Germans in Poland, 127-129;
Germans in Eussia, 343-344
Constantinople, 167, 181, 205, 219-220, 232,
244, 282, 324; Turkish capture, 235
Cracow, 125, 130
Crete, 217
Croatia, 182, 184, 190
Croats, 81, 85, 88, 182
Crusades, 245, 301
Czech, XV, 3; German and, in northern
Bohemia, 144-145; linguistic area, 142,
143
Czeeho-Slovak body, 143
Czechs and Poles, 115
Czemowitz, 170
Dacia, 161
Dacians, 175
Dalmatia, 182, 186; Italians in, 77; Italy's
claims, 84-86; map of the coast, 85; na-
tionality, 87; Roman influence, 84-86;
value to Italy, 84
Dalmatian coast, 78, 337-338
Dalmatian islands, population statistics,
76
Damascus, 264, 267, 302
Danish, 93-97; Norway, 98
Dante, 75
Danube, 46, 82, 137, 154, 155, 156, 165,
175, 181, 199
Danzig, 117, 118, 121
Danzig, Gulf of, 117, 126
Dardanelles, 174, 217-220, 244
Denmark, linguistic problem, 93-97. See
also Schleswig-Holstein
Devil-worshipers, 303, 304
Discovery, age of, 233
Dnieper, 111, 136, 137
Dodecanesia, 246-247, 256
"Drang nach Osten," 119, 181, 243, 331
Druzes, 299-300
Duma, 124
Dunkirk, 20, 23, 24
Durazzo, 200, 212
Dushan, Stephen, 186, 211
Dwellings, Alemannic, 44; German types,
14; Italian and German, in northern
Italy, 68; Lithuanians, 105; Lorraine,
44; Komansh, 54
Dyrrachium, 200
Eastern Question, 180, 228, 231-233, 248
Elbe, 93, 118, 133, 136, 137, 141, 142, 150
Elephantine papyri, 302
Ems, 93
Epidamnus, 200
Epirus, Greek claims to, 196-198
Erzerum, 224
Erzgebirge, 141, 142
Esthonians, 104,^106-108
Euphrates, 224, 238, 239, 294, 302, 308
Europe, civilizing power of geography, 18;
eastern, sketch-map showing classifica-
tion of Russians, etc., 112; languages,
classification, 346-347
Fellaheen, 308
Fennification, 102
Finland, 17, 101-103; language and popu-
lation tables, 109, 110; languages, 103;
literature and nationality, 322-323 ; Swe-
den and, 102, 103
Finnish, 15, 17, 101-103
Finno-Ugrian, 17
Finns, 101-103
Fiume, 88
Flammigants, 28
Flemings, 19-30; rivalry with Walloons,
28-30
Flemish language, 19-29
Pormazzo valley, 67
France, Celtic in, 56; dialects, 9; early
distinction in languages, 9 ; Flemish lan-
guage in, 23; Italian linguistic boim-
dary, 63; language and literature, 320;
linguistic boundary in Alsace-Lorraine,
35-49; map showing contact of langue
d'oil and langue d'oc, 12; nationality,
40; racial elements, 5; sketch-map show-
370
INDEX
ing mountain areas and basins, 10; Tur-
key and, 237, 245-246, 263-266
Francois, 12
Franco-Provengal dialects, 60
Franco-Russian sphere in Turkey, 250, 266
Franks, 56
Fransquillons, 28
Fraslierists, 164
Freneli, Alsace-Lorraine, 35-49; Belgium,
23; boundary in Belgium and Luxem-
burg, 19-34; character, 11; character
and composition, 11, 12; dialects in
Italy, 60-64; early influence in Ger-
many, 14; Flemish-speaking districts of
France, 24; in Italy (map), 61; Lux-
emburg, 30-34; map showing boundary
between French and Italian, 65; origin
of modern, 9; sketch-map of Brussels
and environs showing, 26; Switzerland
(with map), 49-58
French Revolution, 47, 48, 59, 148, 315,
316
Fribourg, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55
Frisian, 94
Friuli, 78
Friulian, 72, 76, 165; definition, 73
Frontiers, France and Germany, 334-335;
linguistic factor, 314; scientific, 332-333;
wars and, 328
Gaelic, 56
Galatae, 286
Galicia, 113, 114; Jews, 125-126; Poles,
130; Poles and Ruthenians, 131
Gallipoli, 175
Gaul, 64
Gaulish, 56
Gediz valley, 249, 264
German, Alsace-Lorraine, 35-49; area, 13;
around Bohemia, 141-142, 144; Baltic
provinces, 105, 106; Czech and, in north-
ern Bohemia, 144-145; dialects, 13;
dwelling houses and language, 14; impo-
sition of the language in Alsace, 48; in
Italy, 66-75; Luxemburg, 31-33; sketch-
map of areas of the three dialects, 15;
Switzerland (with map), 49-58; tran-
sitional dialects, 14
Germanic languages, 9; boundary in Bel-
gium and Luxemburg, 19-34
Germanization, Alsace-Lorraine, 48; Bohe-
mia, 144-145; Bosnia, 190-191; Buko-
vina, 169-170; Danish provinces, 95;
Hungary, 156-157; Italy, 69; Lusatia,
134; Luxemburg, 31; Moravia, 150;
Slovak-land, 151-152, 153; Trentino, 75;
Upper Silesia, 126-127
Germany, clash with Slavs in Balkans,
181; Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein
problem, 93-97; Germans and Poles in
Upper Silesia, table, 139-140; language
and power, 329; language and unity,
317; linguistic boundary in Alsace-Lor-
raine, 35-49; nationality, 40, 316;
Poles in eastern, 123; Polish contact,
115-135; Polish estate buying, 127-129;
Polish immigration, 121-122; Polish
provinces, table, 137-138; Russia and,
330-332; Turkey and, 236, 237, 241-
243, 257-258, 263
Gheks, 193
Gibraltar, 236
Gipsies, 172, 289
Goths, 176
Great Britain and Turkey, 237, 238, 255-
256, 263
Great Russians, 113, 136, 170
Greece, 175; Albanian boundary, 197; Al-
banian coast and, 200-201; Bulgarian
character in north, 211; Bulgarian
speech and, 207; claims on Turkey, 247-
248; Epirus and, 196-198; Rumanian in,
163
Greek, classical forms in Asia Minor, 277;
in Italy, 89-90; Macedonian boundary,
205-206; northern area, map, 203
Greeks, Asia Minor, 273-278; blue-eyed,
176; Dodecanesia, 247; Mohammedan,
277; Persians and, 227
Grimault, 326
Grusinian, 284
Guzlars, 321-322
Hai, 291
Hakem, 300
" Hakenhufen," 133
Hamath, 302
Hamze, 300
Hanaks, 150
"Heim," 44
" Heimatlose," 95
Hejaz railroad, 267
Hellenism. See Greece; Greeks
Hellenization, 205
Herzegovina, 181, 182
High German, 13
Hittites, 279, 291, 299, 301
Hochdeutsch, 13
INDEX
371
Holland, 29, 30, 33, 329
Holstein, 94, 95. 8ee also Schleswig-Hol-
stein
Homo alpinus, 323-324
Hungarian, 154-159
Hungarians, 81, 154; Croatia, 190
Hungary, 131; debt to Rumania, 168; de-
fining, 338-340; Germanization, 156-157;
Germans in, 152; individuality, 154;
Rumanian problem, 157, 158-159 ; sketch-
map of Rumanian area, 169; Slovakian
area, 152; Slovaks, 150, 151
Huns, 176
Huss, 146, 147, 151
Huzuli, 168
Ile-de- France, 9, 11
111 valley, 38, 40
Hlyrian, 86
India, 234, 238, 239, 240, 257
" Ingen," 36, 44
Ipek, 194, 195, 196
Isarco, 73
Ismailyehs, 298
Istria, Italian in, 77
Istrian peninsula, 76
Italian borderlands, 59-92; Dalmatian is-
lands, 76; inhabitants of Italian speech
in Adriatic provinces, table, 92; Istrian
region, 77; map showing boundary be-
tween Italian and French, 65
Italic and Celtic, in France, 56
Italy, 59-92; Austrian frontier claims
(with sketch-map), 335-337; claim on
Turkey, 237, 246-247, 256; foreign lin-
guistic groups, 60; German language in,
66-75; Greeks in, 89-90; map of Slavic
colonies in the Molise group, 89; na-
tionality, 59, 90; non-Italian vernacu-
lars, table, 91; Slavic dialects in and
on borders, 78; Slavs in, 88; Slovene in,
and on borders of, map, 81
Jablunka pass, 116
Jacobites, 305-306
JafiFa-Jerusalem railroad, 250, 265
JagieUons, 120
Janina, 198-199
Jerusalem, 301
Jews, Bsthonian, 107; Galicia, 125-126;
German Poland, 123; Polish, 123, 128;
Polish provinces of Russia, 123; Turkey,
301
Judea, 226
Jugoslavia, 88, 185, 338
Jura, 49, 52, 55
Jutland, 93
Kabardians, 283
Kalevala, 322-323
Karapapaks, 284
Karst land, 77-79
Kastoria, 211
Khirgiz, 174
Kiel Canal, 94
Kiev, 119
Kizilbash, 285-288
Konia, 258, 260
Kottbus, 134, 135
Kovno, 132
Kraljevitch, Marko, 321
Kurdistan Christians, table, 312-313
Kurds, 294-296
Kurland, 106
Kutzo-Vlachs, 163
Ladin, 66, 72, 165; definition, 72-73
Ladislas, 119
Lake beds, 290
Landsmaal, 99, 100
Language, economic influences, 325-327;
formative influence, 18; national asset,
320; nationality and, 1, 155, 314-315;
race, nationaliiy, and, 4; European,
classification, 346-347; great groups in
Europe, 9
Langue d'oc, 9, 12, 64
Langue d'oil, 9, 12, 20, 328
Lassi, 149, 150
Latin, 52, 56, 320; Belgium, 21; Dalmatian
coast, 86, 87; introduction into France,
and influence, 10; Rome's, 59; Ruma-
nian and, 159-161; Southeastern Eu-
rope, 163
Latin-Faliscan, 56
Lazis, 284
Lebanon, 299, 300
Lemberg, 125, 130
Letts, 104-107
Liege, 28
Lingua romana, 38
Lingua teudisca, 39
Linguistic areas, 3
Lippowans, 170-171
Literature and nationality, 317-319
Lithuanians, 104-107
Little Russians, 113, 131, 136
372
INDEX
Livonians, 107
Lombardo-Venetia, 74
Lorraine, 36-37, 326, 334. See also Alsace-
Lorraine
Lothaire, 39
Lotharii Regnum, 38
Lothringia, 29, 40
Louis the German, 38
Low German, 13, 94
Lusatia, 133
Luther, 13
Lutherans, 105, 106, 108
Luxemburg, boundary of French and Ger-
manic languages in, 19-34; language,
30-34
Maalstraev, 97
Macedonia, 202, 204-214 ; history, 208-209 ;
loss to Bulgarians, 207; physical, 203-
204; Serbian claims on, 211-212; Slavs,
206
Macedonian, 165, 166, 206
Macedonians, 204-214; definition, 204;
ethnic composition, 209; groups, 205
Magyar, area, 155-156
Magyars, 151, 154, 155
Malmedy, 22, 33
Mar Shimun, 305
Maritza, 215, 219, 220
Marmora, 218-220, 244
Maronites, 299, 300-301
Masurians, 132, 133
Meander, 255-256
Mecca, 241, 267, 268
Mediterranean race, xiv, 4, 5, 6
Mendai, 306
Meran, 73
Mesopotamia, 226, 238, 260, 261, 262, 272,
307, 308; reclamation, 239
Metauilehs, 297-298
Metsovo, 160
Metz, 37, 43
Mezzo-Mezzos, 277
Middle German, 13
Midyad, 305
Migrations, 202; seasonal, 162
Mindvog, 104
Mirdites, 193
Mohammedan Albanians, 194, 201
Mohammedanism, 83; Turkey and, 221
Mohammedans, 101, 136, 164, 177, 189;
Bosnia, 190; Caliphate, 241, 267; dis-
senters, 285-289; Great Britain and, 240;
Greek, 277; immigrants into Turkey,
282-284; landholders in Europe, 198;
railroad funds, 267-268
Moldavia, 171, 172
Moldavians, 162, 167, 168
Molise group, 89
Monastiro, 72
Mongolian, 104
Mongolians, 113, 176
Mont Blanc, 52
Montenegrins, ISO
Montenegro, 182, 195, 196
Moravia, 149-150; German expansion, 150
Moravian, 115, 116
Moravian Slovaks, 149, 150
Moravians, 142
Moresnet, 32, 33
Morlacca, 88
Mosul, 223, 260; Christians, table, 311-
312
Mountains as boundaries, 333-334
Musariyehs, 298-299
Muscovy, 16
Mush, 290, 294
Nancy, 36, 37, 42, 43
Naples, kingdom of, Slav colonists, 88
Nationality, language and, 1, 155, 314-315;
language, race, and, 4
Nestorians, 304-305
Netherlands, 29
New Norse, 100
Niederdeutsch, 13
Nimrud Dagh, 294
Noghai tartars, 283
Nomadism, 162, 164, 282, 283, 308
Nordic race, xiv, 4, 5, 6, 19, 41, 102, 104,
176
Norse, 98, 99, 100
Norsk, 98
Norway, Danish language in, 98; linguis-
tic problem, 97-100
Norwegian, 97, 100
Norwego-Danish, 98-100
Novibazar, 188-189
Oberdeutsch, 13
Obrenovitch, Miloch, 186
Oder, 93, 116, 118, 137
Old Norse, 98, 99
Oscan-Umbrian, 56
Palestine, 245, 265
Pan-Germanism, 331
Pan-Slavism, 331
INDEX
373
Paris, 9, 11
Parlera, 11
Patois, French, 9
Peacock King, 303
Persia, trade, 238
Persian and Armenian, 272
Persian Gulf, 239
Persians, Armenians and, 290 ; Greeks and,
227
Phrygians, 286, 292
Piasts, 119, 120
Picard patois, 11, 12
Piedmont, 59-62; German in, 66-67
Pilsen, 144
Pindus, 162, 163, 165, 166, 195, 202, 203,
204
Pjesme, 321, 322
Plattdeutsch, 13
Po, 59, 63, 84
Podgoritza, 196
Podhalians, 114
Poetry, nationality and, 318-319; Serbia,
321-322
Poland, 111-140; Austro-Hungarian prov-
inces, table, 138; autonomy, 340-341;
German colonization, 116, 127-129; Ger-
man provinces, table, 137-138; Jewish
element, 124-126; nature of land, 119;
Russia and, 121; Russian provinces,
table, 138-139; Turkey and, 120; unity
of, 135-136
Poles, 111-140; Austrian, 130; Bukovina,
170, 171; eastern Germany, 123; Ger-
man contacts, 115-135; patriotism and
national spirit, 129; letters in Germany,
121-122
Polish, area, 111-140; teaching, 129
Polish Jews. See Jews
Posen, 116, 121-123, 128, 133
Prague, 146
Protestants, Bohemia, 146; Piedmont, 61-
62; Polish group, 133
Prussia, 48, 49, 81. 82, 93, 94, 95, 117,
118, 120, 126, 127; ascendency, 329;
Germanization, 128; Poland and, 340-
341; Poles in, 117, 121
Pruth, 172
Race, xv; European blending, xiv, 5; lan-
guage, nationality, and, 4; mingling, 3
Ragusa, 77, 88
Railroads, Turkish, 248-252, 268-269;
Turkish-owned, 267
Raskolniks, 136
Katzel, F., 325, 326
"Red head," 286
Religious persecution, 61-63
Reval Esthonian, 108
Rhine, 35, 37, 46, 47, 326
Rhone, 51, 52
Riksmaal, 98, 99, 100
Rivers as boundaries, 46, 333
Roman names in Belgium, 21
Romance languages, 56; Balkan peninsula,
86-87, 164-166; Belgium, 25; easterly
■ group map, 166
Romanic, 56, 66
Romanic languages, 9
Romansh, 54, 165; definition, 72-73
Rome, Dalmatia and, 83-86; influence in
southeastern Europe, 165 ; Rumania and,
167; southeastern Europe and, 161
Rumania, original element and history,
167; Russian influence, 172, 173
Rumanian, 159-173; Albanian and, 165;
Bessarabia, 172; Latin kinship, 159-161,
162; map of areas, 166; Serbia, 188;
sketeh-map of, in Bukovina and Hun-
gary, 169; sketch-map showing parts,
183
Rumanians, 339; Balkan peninsula, 160;
colonies and groups, 163-164; Roman
customs, 161; in and about Hungary,
157, 158-159; Pindus mountains, map,
203
Russ, 16
Russia, 15, 16; advances southwesterly,
243; Baltic provinces, 103-108; Bessara-
bia and Rumania, 172, 173; different
languages, 18; Finland and, 101, 103;
German settlements in, 343-344; Ger-
many and, 330-332; Jewish segregation,
124; Jews in Polish provinces, 123;
Poland and, 121 ; Polish provinces, table,
139-140; sketeh-map showing classifica-
tion, 112; Turliey and, 236, 237, 244-
245, 250, 264, 266-267
Russian, 15; Asiatic influence, 16-17;
blending of dialects, 18; Finland, 103;
origin of modern, 16
Russians, divisions, 136; original, 132
Russification, 106, 108
Ruthenia, 16
Ruthenians, 114, 126, 130, 131, 168; Buko-
vina, 168, 170, 171-172; Slav type, 132
Sabeans, 298, 303, 306
St. Bernard passes, 52
S74
INDEX
Salonica, 181, 213-214
Samaan mountains, 303
Samsoun-to-Sivas railroad, 250, 266
San Juan de Medua, 199
Sanskrit, 104
Sardinia, 64
Sarmatians, 175, 176
Sasseno, 200, 201
Saxon, 158
Saxon colony in Hungary, 157, 158
Saxonian, 13
Scandinavian languages, 93-100
Schelde, 19, 20, 30
SeUeswig, 93-97
Schleswig-Holstein, 341 ; Germanization,
95; problem, 93-97; sketch-map of lan-
guages from Danish viewpoint, 97;
sketch-map of languages from German
viewpoint, 96
Scutari, 180, 199
Scutari Lake, 195, 196
Scythians, 175
Sephardim, 301
Serbia, 182, 243, 337, 338; Adriatic and,
180; Austrian ultimatum, 181; claims
on Macedonia, 211-212; history and poli-
tics, 186; linguistic area, 186-189; na-
tionality, 191; poetry, 321-322
Serbian, area, 181-182; Bulgarian transi-
tion dialect, 212
Serbo-Croatian in the Dalmatian islands,
76
Serbo-Croats, 79, 136, 184-185
Serbs, 81, 85, 88; Balkan, 174-191; cul-
ture, 184; religion and nationality, 182-
183; three groups, 182
Sette communi, 68-69; map of German
speech in, 69
Shmuds, 104
Siberia, 17
Silesia, 116. See also Upper Silesia
Silk, 246
Simplon tunnel, 52
Sinjar range, 303, 304
Sivas, 250, 266
Skip, 192
Skipetars, 189, 192, 193
Slavic, XV, 9; Russian as a form of, 15
Slavicization, 101; Balkan peninsula, 165
Slavonia, 182, 184
Slavs, 6; Adriatic provinces, 76; Austria-
Himgary, 82; Baltic, 108; Bohemian and
Moravian, 141; Dalmatia, 85, 86, 87;
early home, 7; fusion vrith aliens, 108;
German-speaking, 134; Italy, 78, 88-89;
Karst and Adriatic, 77-78; languages
in Austria, sketch-map, 183; Macedo-
nian, 202, 206; map of Molise group in
Italy, 89; Naples, 88; note on, 136-137;
Poland, 111; southern unity, 185, 337-
338; Teutonic clash, 181, 330-332; type,
132
Slovakian, 151; Hxingarian northern boun-
dary, 152
Slovaks, 114, 136, 150-153; Moravian, 149,
150; outside their native land, 153
Slovene, Italy, 76; linguistic area, 76-81;
map showing area in Austria and parts
of Italy, 81
Slovenes, 136
Sorabes, 133
Spalato, 77, 86
Stapellandern, 326
Steppes, 15-18
Strassburg, 37, 38, 41
Suez Canal, 178, 223
Suwalki, 132
Svatopuk, 150
Swabians, 170
Sweden, 100, 101; Finland and, 102,
103
Swedish, 100, 102; Finland, 103
Switzerland, distribution of languages,
tables, 57, 58; languages, 326-327; lin-
guistic boundary between French and
German (with map), 49-58; nationality,
54; Valais and German, 66-67
Syria, 226, 250, 272, 303; France and,
245-246, 264, 265 ; French states in time
of Crusades, map, 245
Syrians, 296-298; Nestorians and, 305
Szgchenyi, Stephen, 155
Szekler, 157, 159, 170
Tahtajis, 285
Tatar, 16, 101, 102, 166, 167
Tatars, 177; invasion of southern Poland,
113; Turks and, 279-280
Taurus, 229-230, 258, 259
Tchan, 284
Temesvar, 188
Teutonic Knights, 104, 105, 118, 119, 120,
132
Teutons, Celtic influence, 14; early home,
6; Slavs and, 181, 330-332. See also
Germany
Thessaly, 217
Thrace, 166, 175
INDEX
3T6
Tigris, 238, 239, 294, 301, 302, 307; Chris-
tians, table, 311-312
TirnoTO, 214
Tiroler Volksbund, 75
Toce, 67
Torre Pellice, 61-62
Tosks, 193
Trade, Asiatic and European, 233-236; lan-
guage and, 325-327
Transylvania, 157, 158, 159, 161, 162, 339;
social grouping, 159
Traveri, 287
Trent, Italian character, 75; Bishopric of,
73, 74
Trentino, 335; German in, 72; German in-
vasions, 70; German propaganda, 75;
Italian dialects in, 72; Italy's claims and
their basis, 73; sketch-map showing lan-
guages spoken, 71
Treves, 287
Triest, 76, 77
Troy, 232
Turani, 306
Turin, 60, 63
Turkestan, 283
Turkey, Armenians and, 293-294; classifi-
cation of peoples of Asiatic, table, 310;
danger to Europe past, 82-83; economic
position, 268; elements of interest, 228;
Europe and, 237; European powers and,
237; geographical case of, 221-270; geo-
graphical sections and peoples, 271;
Greeks and Albanians forced into Italy,
89-90; groups of peoples, 273; highway
of commerce, 222-224, 248; historic
struggle for highway, 226-227; litera-
ture and nationality, 323-325; national-
ity, 230; patriotism absent, 229; parti-
tion, 236-237; peoples of, 271-313;
Poland and, 120; railroads, 248-252;
spheres of influence of European powers,
250-251; summary glance at foreign in-
fluence, 269-270; world selection, 230-
236. See also Asia Minor
Turki, 101, 154, 272, 281, 283, 284
Turkish, 15, 204, 225; Arabic words, 280;
Bulgarian and, 210; Persian words, 272
Turkomans, 283
Turko-Persian borderland Christians, table,
311-313
Turks, 154, 165, 167, 168, 171, 186, 187;
customs, 176-177; European occupation
temporary 177; exodus, 202; Greek and
Bulgarian division of lands, 207-208; in
Asia Minor, 278-282; intruders in Eu-
rope, 216-217; race, 280; religion, lan-
guage and nationality, 280; Tatar
character, 279-280; two types, 281
Tyrol, 75; German and Italian competi-
tion, 74; southern, 70
Ukraine, 131, 135
Upper Silesia, 126; Germans and Poles,
126-127, 139-140
Uralo- Altaic, 17
Urals, 17, 333
Urartu, 290, 291
Uskub, 186, 204, 210, 211
Valais, 51-54; German in, 66-67
Valdese valleys, 62
Valona, 200, 201
Van, 290
Vannic, 291, 292
Var, 64
Vardar valley, 164, 204
Venetia, 74; German dialects in, 68
Venice, 72, 85, 200; Dalmatian influence
and authority, 85, 87
Venice, Gulf of, 84
Veria, Rumanians, 164
Verse, conversing in, 108
Vienna, 153, 154, 156
Vienna, treaty of, 315-316, 328-329
Vistula, 111, 113, 117, 118, 133, 135, 136,
137
Vosges, 41, 334
Walas, 22
Wallachian verse, 160
Wallachians, 162, 167, 168
Wallonia, 19, 28
Walloon, 19-30
Walloons, 19-30; rivalry with Flemings,
28-30
Warsaw, 123, 124
Water boundaries, 333
" Weiler," 45
Wends, 133-135; map of speech area, 134
White Russians, 113, 136
Willcocks, Sir Wm., 239
Witte, H., 37, 44, 45
Yemen, 306
Yezidis, 303-304
Yuruks, 288-289
Zara, 77, 85
Zips, 170
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